Butterfly
by RoamingFox
Summary: The village makes it painfully clear that they don't want Naruto. Shunned by his home, rejected by his friends, Naruto ventures into the world on a mission. A mission to free his home from the clutches of tyranny.
1. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, and all material in this story is owned by it's respective owners.

* * *

**Chapter 1 – One Step Forward, Two Steps Back**

"That's it! Enough! No more! I can't do this any longer!" Misaki had had enough. Truthfully, she had probably had enough three weeks ago when Naruto had put that bucket of frogs in her dresser, but the look on her face told him that she was really serious this time.

"I'm sorry! I didn't do it this time! I swear! I wouldn't do something like that! I promise! I didn't do it!" Naruto sobbed at the young lady. For once in his eight years of life, he hadn't been responsible, but it didn't matter, it never mattered. Naruto had quickly figured out that everything that went wrong at the orphanage was always his fault, whether he was involved or not.

"Oh?! And I suppose all of my underwear just decided to up and vanish of its own accord?! No, I don't think so! The Hokage is going to hear about this right now!" Naruto watched as the person who had raised him for as long as he could remember stormed across the room.

"Now sit there and stay put, you little demon!" She shouted back over her shoulder as she threw open the door, stormed through, and slammed it behind her.

* * *

"Are you sure I can't convince you to reconsider?" Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed into his hands as he stared at the young, and obviously fuming, woman in front of him. In all his years as Hokage, that boy was hands down the greatest challenge of his career.

"Absolutely not! Either he goes, or I do!" Hiruzen's eyes flicked over her face, analyzing every last detail, from the slight blush that was just barely visible on her cheeks, to the look of violation and sheer rage in her eyes. The better part of five decades of ninja training told him that the boy had seriously over-stepped the line this time.

"What, exactly, has he done wrong this time?"

"What did he do?! That little demon hid all of my underwear!" The woman screamed back at him before her hands clamped swiftly over her mouth in realization of what she had just yelled out loud.

"Misaki, I've told you before not to call Naruto-chan a demon in my presence."

"Forgive me Hokage-sama, but if you will not do something about this, then I have to resign."

"I don't think we need to be that hasty. I'll deal with the situation first thing in the morning. Now for the time being, please return to the orphanage. It's not safe to leave the children unsupervised like this after all."

"Of course, Hokage-sama." Misaki bowed low and hurried out of his office.

"Hmm... That didn't sound like one of Naruto-chan's usual pranks. It didn't have any frogs in it." Sarutobi chuckled to himself as he lit his pipe. "Regardless, this puts me in a tough spot... I'm going to have to speed up my plans for the boy considerably."

* * *

As promised, Hiruzen was at the orphanage bright and early that morning, but what he had found there had him worried. Naruto was sitting in the corner of the room, between his bed and the wall, his head resting on his knees, and his arms wrapped protectively around his legs. Hiruzen immediately noticed that the sheets on Naruto's bed had obviously not been slept in the night before.

"Misaki, what happened to him?" He kept his voice low as he leveled his eyes on the young woman. As much as he wanted to take the girl and throttle her to figure out what she had done to Naruto, he didn't want to upset the boy any further, and besides, he didn't have any proof.

"What? I didn't do anything to the brat. He was like that when I got back here." Hiruzen nodded at her answer, although he noted that it appeared that the woman had somehow managed to find her wayward undergarments since they had last spoken.

Hiruzen took a few cautious steps towards the blond, his eyes never leaving the spiky haired boy. By the time he had reached the foot of his bed, Naruto had obviously realized that someone was walking towards him and was flinching every time he took another step.

"Naruto-chan?" Sarutobi winced slightly as Naruto's head snapped up and his dull blue eyes locked onto the Hokage. Those eyes of his were what worried him the most. They were like smoldering sapphires, a deep cobalt blue streaked with a stormy gray. Every time he saw them, he was reminded of a cloudy sky just on the verge of rain. When Naruto realized who had called his name, however, the change in his eyes was amazing, where once they were dull and lifeless, now they were bright and full of hope. It was like the sun had suddenly cut through the clouds, streaking his eyes with a vibrant gold.

"Jiji!" Naruto literally flung himself out of the corner he was huddled in and wrapped his arms around Hiruzen with an almost frightening speed. The boy had amazing talent, if only he could learn to control it...

"Hello, Naruto-chan." He wrapped one hand around the boy and ruffled his unruly hair with the other. He really did look exactly like his father... It was such a shame that he couldn't put everyone in their place by revealing his heritage.

"Naruto, how would you like to leave here and live on your own?" He had to repress a grimace when he watched Naruto's eyes brighten at the prospect of getting out of the orphanage. No eight year old boy should feel that living on his own is an improvement.

"Really?! That would be AWESOME!" Naruto shouted and jumped into the air, much to Hiruzen's delight at seeing the boy bounce back from whatever had happened the night before.

"Alright then let's go get you an apartment." He smiled down at the boy as he led him to the door, stopping briefly in front of Misaki.

"Good-bye, Misaki-san." The words were short and cold and the Hokage's gaze pressed down on her as his eyes narrowed.

"Good-bye, Hokage-sama, Naruto-kun." Misaki gulped as the pair left and the door slammed closed behind them.

* * *

"This is amazing! You mean I really get to stay here? I don't have to ever go back to the orphanage?" Naruto shouted excitedly as he bounced around the modest apartment. It wasn't much, it certainly wasn't anything spectacular, but it was a roof over his head and everything inside at least functioned.

"That's right, Naruto-chan. This can be your apartment if you want, but you'll need to take care of it, alright?" He gave the boy a small smile as he watched his head bob up and down.

"Good. Now before we go and sign the papers, you need to understand that you'll have to pay for this apartment, utilities, and food. I'll be able to help you for the first few years, but after that you'll have to pay for everything on your own. That means you'll need to get a job." He couldn't help but shake the feeling that this was a bad move. He should not have to be having this conversation with an eight year old child, but what choice did he have? It was either this, or leave the boy to Danzo and his ilk, and that was a _far_ worse fate.

"I want to be a ninja just like you, Jiji!" Naruto smiled as he ran around his new apartment. He still couldn't believe he didn't have to spend any more time in that filthy orphanage where everyone hated him. Things were finally looking up.

"Of course, Naruto-chan. I'll see to it that you're on the roaster for the next class at the academy."

"Hey Jiji? Does this mean I can do what I want now?"

"To a degree Naruto-chan, but I'll have people checking in on you from time to time. You won't see them, but we'll be watching you, so try not to get into trouble, okay?" He gave the boy a small smile before returning to the landlord to work out all of the paper work. The amount the man was charging for the apartment was outrageous, but he was one of the few people even willing to offer the boy a place at all, and he was the only one who had one where everything worked. There was no way that he'd be able to get the village to fund everything the boy needed. Thankfully, he had a fair sum of personal money saved that should last long enough for Naruto to begin paying for it himself.

* * *

Naruto was hungry. It had been a week since he got his apartment, and the food that the Hokage and he had gotten was gone, and the old man wasn't supposed to visit again for another three days. Left with no other option, Naruto had to venture out and go shopping on his own. Thankfully, the Hokage had thought to leave him his allowance for the month, so he at least had a little bit of money he could use to buy groceries with.

After making sure the door to his apartment was securely closed and locked, Naruto began making his way toward the market district. He smiled at everyone he met; sometimes he even waved at them as he passed. To him life could not get any better, but he completely failed to notice all of the glares he was getting in return.

The first stall Naruto decided to stop at was a small fruit stand. He always did love apples; at least he loved the few he had managed to get from the other kid's lunches when they weren't looking. Naruto spotted a bright red juicy looking one and picked it up.

"Excuse me miss, how much does this apple cost?" Naruto had to repeat himself a few times before the elderly woman running the stall heard him and turned around.

"They're not for sale!" The women gave him a cold stare and snatched the apple out of his hands.

"What? But you just sold one a few minutes ago!" His confusion was written across his face as he tried to figure out what was wrong with this crazy old lady.

"They're not for sale, _to you_." The woman repeated herself, putting extra emphasis on the last couple words.

"Why? I just wanted to buy an apple..." Naruto couldn't figure out why she just wouldn't sell him an apple.

"Get lost!" In the time that he had spent thinking, the woman had come around her stall and was brandishing a broom. Naruto had to duck a few times to avoid it as he made a hasty exit, the yells of the crazy lady following him the entire way.

"Jeez... I just wanted an apple. Maybe the other stores will be better." At least he hoped they would be.

Sadly, luck was not on Naruto's side, and every place he went, he received similar treatment. One person even threw rotten vegetables at him! He was starting to think that everyone just hated him, but he had finally found a stand that was willing to sell him some food. It cost him his entire month's worth of allowance, but he was now happily strolling back to his new apartment with a large bag under each arm. Naruto was so happy to have some real food that he wasn't paying attention at all to where he was going, and walked right into someone's leg, dropping his bags in the process.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

"I'm sorry... I wasn't looking in front of me. I didn't mean to bump into you mister." The man stared down at the boy who had just knocked into him. He knew the boy looked familiar, but he wasn't able to place him until he noticed the whisker shaped scars on his cheeks.

"Sorry? I don't think you're sorry enough, Demon!" The man shouted as he walked over to Naruto's groceries and stomped on them.

"My food! Now what am I supposed to eat?!" Naruto watched with tears in his eyes as the man ground his entire month's worth of money and food into the dusty street.

"You should have thought about that before you slammed into me. Maybe this will teach you some damn manners!" The man laughed and gave the bags one last kick for good measure before strolling down the street as if nothing had happened, leaving Naruto to salvage whatever was left.

All of his food in the bags was ruined, and the few things that had rolled out of the way were muddy and getting kicked around by the heavy foot traffic. In the end, he wasn't even able to salvage a single item that he had bought. Hungry and broke, Naruto ran towards his apartment complex, tears streaming down his face as he tried to put as much distance between him and the street his food was now laying in. He was so upset that he completely missed the intersection his street was on, and kept on running. Now hopelessly lost, he finally collapsed in the alley next to some sort of food stand.

* * *

"Ayame-chan? Could you go take out the garbage for me please?"

"Sure thing Dad!"

Naruto had heard the voices, but they didn't really register with him. The only word he had really heard was 'dad' and that had just sent him into another fit of crying. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even see the teenage girl throw a bag of garbage over his head and into the barrel next to him.

"Oh my! Daddy, there's a boy back here, and he's crying!"

"What?! Better bring him inside dear, no sense in him crying out in some dirty old alley when he can do it in here and at least be up off of the ground!" The older voice from before called back out to his daughter.

"Alright!" The girl yelled back in response before turning back to the sobbing mass of blond hair in front of her. "Hey, you alright?" She gently nudged the boy, who seemed to not even notice she was there.

"I'm talking to you, ya know! The least you could do is respond!" Ayame shook the boy's shoulder a little harder to try and get a response from him. She was hoping to get him to look up at her, but instead he just flinched away from her hand and curled up even tighter.

"Fine! Be that way, but I'm not just going to let you sit out here in the dirt. You're coming inside whether you like it or not!" She reached out and gently tried to pick the boy up. He resisted at first, but when he realized he had nowhere to go he gave up and let the girl carry him inside.

"Here he is dad... I don't know what's wrong with him though. He wouldn't even look at me when I talked to him. He didn't even respond. I had to pick him up just to get him to move at all." She gently placed the curled up boy onto the stool in the corner and sat down next to him, amazed at how he managed to balance on the stool yet stay curled up at the same time.

"Come on now, can you tell us what's wrong?" The older man asked from across the counter as he looked down at the obviously upset child.

"I like your shirt. Is that a frog?" Ayame rubbed his back gently in an attempt to cheer him up. She was absolutely delighted to see his head nod slightly in response to her question.

"My name's Ayame. What's yours?"

"Na...Naruto" Naruto sniffled, his head still buried in his arms.

"That's such a pretty name. Can you tell us why you're so upset, Naruto-chan?"

Naruto shook his head violently, almost slipping off of the stool in the process.

"Naruto, no one here is going to be mad at you. I promise." Naruto immediately looked up into the eyes of the older man.

"You... You promise?"

"I do. My name is Teuchi." The man nodded. He looked nice enough. His short brown hair was just starting to streak with gray, and his eyes were warm and welcoming, unlike the usual cold stares that he normally got.

"Some... Some guy... ruined all of my food... and now... now I don't have anything to eat." The boy managed to choke out between sobs.

"That's horrible!" Ayame commented as she tried to comfort the blond.

"No one should treat a child like that..." Teuchi knew the reason of course, but that wasn't an excuse to heap abuse onto an innocent child. "Tell you what... How about I cook you up my super-special ramen?"

"I... I don't have any money... I spent... spent it all on that food..."

"Don't worry about it, Naruto-chan. This one is on the house." Teuchi's heart almost broke at the look of sheer relief that spread over the boy's face.

"Thank you, Teuchi-sama." Naruto bowed low in his seat, his forehead almost touching the counter. He usually hated having to 'be polite', but Teuchi was the first person to show him any kindness at all outside of the old man, so he felt that he deserved it.

"Now now, enough of that. Teuchi-san is just fine." The man laughed. "Just give me a few minutes and I'll have your ramen ready." The man added as he turned around to begin work.

"Are you feeling better now, Naruto-chan?" Ayame asked as she got her first good look at the boy. He would have been extremely cute if it weren't for the weird whisker shaped scars on his face and the fact that his clothes were way too large for his malnourished frame.

"A little..." Naruto nodded.

"That's good. Why don't you come in back with me, and we'll get you cleaned up while Dad works on your lunch, okay?" Ayame quickly glanced at her father to make sure it was alright before grabbing Naruto's hand and dragging him back into the small house that was attached to the back of the stand.

"Here we go. Why don't you go wash up while I clean these for you?" Ayame asked as she opened the door to their bathroom. Naruto nodded, and handed her his torn shirt and his muddy pants before closing the door.

* * *

"Dad... His clothes are all torn up and ripped... like more than a little street fight would get them."

"I think we still have some of your little cousin's clothes in those boxes in the closet. Why don't you see if you can find something that will fit him? No one should have to walk around in ripped clothing."

"Sure thing, Dad." Ayame nodded and ran off in search of a decent set of clothes for the boy.

* * *

Naruto was in heaven. He never got to have a hot bath. The orphanage always made him rinse off outside, and the water in his apartment was always ice cold. He considered staying in there longer than was necessary, but he didn't want to overstep the hospitality of the first people that didn't seem to hate him, so he decided to hurry and clean up as fast as possible.

After he finished drying off, he found two piles of clothes sitting just outside of the bathtub.

"Are you done already, Naruto-chan?" Ayame's voice called from behind the door.

"Uh-huh."

"I washed your clothes for you, but you should put on the other set in there. They're some of my cousin's extra clothes, and they'll probably fit you better than what you were wearing." Naruto looked down at the second set of clothes next to his before putting them on and walking back out to the front of the stand.

* * *

"You look so much better now, Naruto-chan!" Ayame smiled as she looked the boy over. He was wearing a plain navy blue t-shirt, and a pair of tan shorts. They weren't much, but they were clean and free of holes.

"Your hair is sticking up though..." Ayame commented as she tried to flatten his unusually spiky hair, only to have it stick right back up again. "It just doesn't stay flat does it?" Naruto shook his head as Teuchi set a large steaming bowl of ramen down in front of him.

Naruto stared down at the bowl in front of him; the smell alone was driving his senses wild. It was like something out of one of his dreams, the way the meat and vegetables floated lazily in the rich broth and the noodles glistened in the early afternoon sun, it was absolutely perfect.

"Thank you so much." The ramen looked so appetizing he had almost forgotten to thank the man for the meal.

Formalities out of the way, Naruto looked around in search of something to eat it with. They certainly wouldn't appreciate him inhaling it like some sort of wild animal. To his dismay, he could only find chopsticks, something he had precious little practice in using as the orphanage had always made him use his hands instead.

Shakily, Naruto lifted a pile of noodles to his mouth, only to have them slip out of his chopsticks at the last second. His second try was only marginally better than his first, but this time he at least managed to get a bite of some of it.

"Naruto-chan... Do you want some help?" Ayame had noticed the awkward way he was holding his chopsticks and the look of frustration on his face as yet another mouthful of noodles slipped back into the bowl. Naruto, however, just shook his head as he tried once again to eat his meal.

"Dad... do we have a fork, or something? Maybe that would be easier for him..." Ayame asked her father as she watched the boy try again.

"No! I'm going to do this!" Naruto shouted as he speared a piece of meat with one of his chopsticks.

"Here, at least let me show you how to hold them properly." Ayame slipped behind the young blond and adjusted the thin pieces of wood in his hand, showing him how to move them so he wouldn't drop everything.

"See? Isn't that better?" Naruto nodded enthusiastically, having finally gotten the hang of it, and dug into the remainder of his meal with gusto.

* * *

"That was the best food I've ever tasted!" Naruto exclaimed as he set the, now empty, bowl back onto the counter.

"Well I'm glad you liked it." Teuchi smiled at him.

"I sure did! Hey... Umm... Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure thing, Naruto-chan. What can I help you with?"

"Umm... Well... I'm kind of lost. I don't know how to get back to my apartment from here."

"Of course! Ayame-chan, why don't you show him how to get back home?" Teuchi waited for his daughter to nod in agreement.

"There! That's settled then. Oh, I almost forgot, you said you were out of food right?" Naruto nodded.

"Then take this. I can't let my newest customer walk out of my stand knowing that he's walking home to an empty fridge!" Teuchi smiled as he put a pair of plastic bags full of food on the counter.

"I... Thank you." Naruto nodded as he left with Ayame to find his apartment.

* * *

**A/N:**

Yes, I know, Naruto comes off _really_ pathetic in this chapter. I'm sorry, but it's a necessary evil in order to make the rest of the story work, so please bear with it for another chapter or two. And to answer your question: No, Naruto is not going to go emo on you, so if you were planning on not reading the story because of that, you needn't worry.

Sorry to disappoint you folks, but this isn't going to be a NaruAya fic. I know Hinata hasn't shown up yet, but she will :P

I'm also going to apologize up front for the long delays between chapters of this story. I'm writing this in between WoF chapters as a sort of side project, so don't expect frequent updates. In fact, this chapter alone took almost three months to write.

Finally, this chapter is a little shorter than what I usually write, but there's a time-skip between the end of the last scene in this chapter and the start of the next one, so it was either stop here, or time-skip mid chapter :P

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Also look for chapter 6 of WoF to be up sometime soon. It's mostly written, it just hasn't reached the polish that I want yet.

Translations:  
Jiji – Grandfather. This is Naruto's nickname for the Third Hokage.


	2. Right And Wrong

**Chapter 2 – Right And Wrong**

It was October 10th. Naruto _hated_ October 10th. It was the day of the festival celebrating the defeat of the nine-tailed demon fox. It was also his tenth birthday, his golden birthday at that, and yet he knew that not a single person would even congratulate him, let alone give him a present. If he hadn't looked at the calendar by chance, he would have gone outside, and _that_ would not have ended well. He had learned the hard way that the villagers did not appreciate his presence on this day in particular.

"Man... Just once I'd like to see what this festival thing is all about without having things thrown at me or being threatened with something pointy..." Naruto sighed as he reclined on the ratty old couch in his living room and listened to the villagers mull about as they set up the various decorations for the celebration. He had tried to go to the festival the last two years, but he had been driven almost all the way out of the village by a rather angry mob last time, so this year he vowed to stay inside and spare himself the torment for once.

"Argh! I've only been up for a few hours and I'm already bored out of my mind!" Naruto started pacing back and forth in his living room, trying to find something to ease his boredom. On his eighth trip past his coffee table, he tripped over something and promptly fell crashing to the floor in a pile of ragged clothes and shouts from his downstairs neighbor.

"What the hell?!" Naruto shouted as he held his bruised knee and frantically looked around for what he had tripped over. He finally spotted the offending object sticking out from under his table. It was the first year academy textbook he had finally managed to steal from the storeroom last month after his had mysteriously gone 'missing' a few weeks after starting classes last year.

"Eh... No time like the present I guess..." Naruto shrugged and pulled the book the rest of the way out and began practicing his chakra control exercises. It wasn't that he wasn't good at ninjutsu, quite the opposite really, but he always found it hard to actually _learn_ how to do the techniques. Once he got them down, however, he hardly ever messed them up. Unfortunately, his teacher refused to even acknowledge his presence during class, so he was forced to learn everything from a rather ratty secondhand copy of the textbook that had to be at least fifty years out of date, and needless to say, it was slow going.

* * *

Hinata found herself, once again, sitting on the rooftop of a rundown apartment complex, staring across the street into the open window of the apartment across from her. She really hadn't intended on spying on him so much, but somehow she always ended up drawn to him anyway.

She had taken to following him around in her free time ever since she had first seen him on that swing outside of the academy two years ago. He had looked so alone, so isolated, so much like herself. Yet the more she watched, the more she realized what his life was really like. That, despite hardships no one should ever have to bear, he always seemed so strong. It was almost contagious; just being near him made her feel more sure of herself, more confident.

When he began talking to himself, however, Hinata's curiosity got the better of her and she couldn't help but read his lips. "He's never been able to go to the festival because people recognize him?" Hinata mouthed to herself as she stared up at the clouds. Maybe, just maybe, she'd finally be able to work up enough courage to actually talk to him. She smiled softly as a plan began to form in her mind.

* * *

Naruto woke to the sound of laughter and fireworks. He quickly looked out his window and realized he must have fallen asleep at some point during his training.

"Ugh... That was so boring I actually fell asleep!" Naruto yawned as he shoved the book back under his table and wandered off into his kitchen in search of something to eat.

Just as he was rummaging around in the back of one of his cabinets, there was a quiet knock on his door. He had remembered to pay this month's rent already, hadn't he? It certainly wasn't one of the random people who occasionally decided to torment him at home, they usually didn't bother to knock, or if they did, they knocked so hard the entire door shook.

"Be right there!" Naruto shouted out to his apparent guest as he quickly pulled his head out of the cabinet and crossed his small apartment to the door.

* * *

Hinata fidgeted anxiously with the traditional fox-shaped mask that covered her face. She had tried knocking four times already, but had stopped short each time. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and clutched her gift closer to herself as she worked up the courage for another attempt.

This time she actually managed to make contact with the abused wood of his door. She almost thought that he hadn't heard the tiny sound over the dull roar of the crowd below, but his confirmation from inside proved that he, in fact, had.

Hinata checked her mask once more to ensure it properly hid her features, and waited for the boy to open the door.

* * *

The person standing on his doorstep wasnothing at all like what he had expected. His landlord, the Hokage, or even a gang of angry villagers he could handle, but a small girl in a dark blue kimono wearing a fox mask? Now, _that_ was new territory.

"Umm... Hi. Can I help you?" Naruto asked as he tilted his head as he studied the mask the girl was wearing.

The girl nodded and thrust out her hands, shoving a pile of cloth and a mask at him. The porcelain mask looked just like the one she had on, but the artistic decorations were done in a crimson red instead of navy blue like hers.

"For me?" The girl nodded, and Naruto shifted his attention to the bundle of cloth that she had also given him. It was a kimono, similar to the one she was wearing, but it was a deep red, and from the looks of it, in his size too.

"Umm... Thank you. Was there anything else?" Naruto looked curiously back at the girl who still hadn't moved from the spot she had been standing.

The girl nodded her head, sending her short purple-black hair swaying, and pointed at the bundle of clothes and the mask, then back at him, and then finally inside of his apartment.

"You want me to put them on?" The girl nodded enthusiastically.

"Umm... Okay. I'll be right back..." Naruto gave the girl one more curious look before gently closing the door behind him in order to change.

"Well that was strange..." Naruto commented to himself as he changed into the kimono. It was extremely high quality, well beyond what he would ever be able to afford, even if the shopkeepers didn't price gouge him.

"She seemed nice enough though, if a bit quiet, and this sure as hell beats staying inside all night."

Naruto smiled to himself. It looks like someone had remembered his birthday after all, even if it had been by coincidence.

* * *

Hinata's breath caught in her chest when the door opened again. She had always found Naruto cute, but seeing him in something other than the same worn clothes he always wore made all the difference in the world. She smiled behind her mask as she burned the image of him standing in his doorway smiling stupidly, his mask sitting crookedly on top of his head, into her memory forever as one of the happiest moments of her life.

"Well? How do I look?" Naruto scratched the back of his head.

Hinata nodded enthusiastically, and reached up to pull his mask down over his face before grabbing his arm and dragging him out of his apartment and towards the festival.

* * *

"Alright! Alright! I'm coming! Ya don't have to pull my arm off!" Naruto laughed as he rushed to keep up with the girl.

"So where are we headed?" The girl just tilted her head at him and pointed towards one of the game stands. It was one of those carnival type games where the player had to catch a goldfish with a little paper net.

"Do you want to play?" He asked as the girl nodded her agreement. Naruto reached into the pocket that usually contained his wallet, and what little money he had managed to save, only to realize that he had left it back in his apartment. "Err... Maybe not...."

Hinata shook her head and gently put her arm on his shoulder as she pulled out her own wallet and paid for the both of them.

"You didn't have to pay for me too..." Naruto mumbled as he watched the girl attempt to catch her goldfish, only for the paper screen to break just as she lifted it out of the water.

"Here... Let me try." Naruto squinted behind his mask as he watched the fish swim around.

Naruto slowly dipped the net into the water, and expertly scooped up the small fish.

"Oh ho! We have a winner! Well done!" The man running the game smiled and put the goldfish in a small plastic bag full of water.

"Not for me... for her." Naruto nodded at the girl next to him. The man smiled and handed the fish over to Hinata.

"Well... Where to now?" Naruto asked just as his stomach rumbled. "Eheh... Sorry, I kind of skipped lunch."

Hinata giggled and pointed over his shoulder to a nearby Takoyaki stand.

Naruto turned around noticed the stand she was pointing at and sighed. "You don't have to do that..." He hated charity from people. It always felt so shallow... like he had failed and needed to be bailed out.

"I appreciate it, really I do, but..." Naruto was cut short when the girl shook her head and placed her finger on his lips, or rather where his lips would have been if it weren't for the mask.

"... Alright." If she was really that insistent about it, who was he to argue? It _was_ his birthday after all.

* * *

Naruto lost track of how long he had spent wandering around the village with his mysterious, and oddly silent, masked friend. It had to have been at least a few hours as most of the people who had littered the streets earlier had since gone home, leaving them almost alone amongst the brightly colored stalls.

"Hey..." Naruto gently tugged on Hinata's shoulder. "Umm... I... Well... Thank you. This is the best birthday I've ever had. I don't know who you are, or how you knew, but... thank you."

"I... I..." It was his birthday? She didn't know... She could have done more... She should have done more...

"Hinata-sama!" The voice drifted over dull sounds of the night. Hinata's head snapped up, frantically searching for its origin.

"Is something wrong?" Naruto tilted his head at his new friend as she spun around wildly.

Hinata finally spotted the source of the voice. A pair of Hyuuga guards were sprinting down the street... Right towards them.

"I... I'm sorry. Forgive me!" Hinata quickly apologized to before running off as fast as she could.

"Hey! Wait! What's wrong?" Naruto started to run after the girl, only to be shoved aside by a pair of stuffy looking men with long brown hair and milky white eyes. By the time he had managed to untangle himself from the trash he had been pushed into, all three of them were nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Naruto's thoughts were a mix of emotions as he walked slowly back to his apartment. The girl had only said four words to him the entire night... and it had been an apology for something he didn't even understand, and yet he couldn't help but replay them over and over in his head as he walked.

As Naruto neared his door, he immediately noticed something was amiss. The door was open, and he _always _made sure to both close and lock it before he left. Not that a lock was much of a deterrent to the people in the village, but it helped to keep honest people honest at least. A few more cautious steps revealed that not only was it open, it was almost hanging off it's hinges, and was covered top to bottom in graffiti. Everything form obscenities to death threats covered the pealing green paint. Naruto was used to this kind of thing now, it happened from time to time, but this time something caught his attention more than normal. Someone had decided that paint wasn't enough, and had carved their message into the aged wood with a knife.

"... No one wants you, demon." Naruto ran his fingers over the characters that had been gouged into his door as he whispered the words to himself. The Naruto from two years ago would have broken down in tears at the sight, but he was far too used to this kind of thing now, and had long since learned how to handle it.

Naruto schooled his emotions into an impassive mask as he stepped inside his apartment and looked around. It seemed the damage to his door had only been the beginning of the vandalism. Every inch of his walls were covered in threats and profanity. His coffee table was in pieces, its splintered wood strewn about his living room along with the tattered remains of his academy textbook. The entire contents of his kitchen was on the floor, and the lone window in the living room was shattered. His bedroom had fared no better. All of his clothes were either ripped to shreds, or thrown about recklessly, and his futon was hanging out of the only other window in his apartment.

Naruto sighed as he bent down and began trying to salvage his belongings. It was going to be a very long night.

* * *

It had been over two years since the night his apartment was trashed, and his thoughts had often drifted back to the mysterious girl who had suddenly shown up on his birthday. At first he had thought he had just imagined the whole encounter, like some sort of loneliness induced hallucination, but that theory had been thrown out the window when the packages started showing up on his doorstep.

He had never told anyone his birthday, well, anyone except her anyway, so Naruto was surprised, to say the least, when he started finding presents outside his apartment on various holidays. It was kind of a surreal experience, knowing someone cared enough about him to get him a gift, but being unable to thank them for it. Thinking back, knowing someone actually cared was probably one of the few things that got him through the past few years.

Naruto forced his thoughts back to the present as the academy building came into view. The next graduation test was coming up, and it would be Naruto's last chance. It hadn't exactly been his fault that he had failed the previous tests. The proctor's always found something to fault him on, no matter how perfect his test scores were. Last year's test was the first time he was even allowed to take the practical exam, and even then they had failed him due to his flawed attempt at a bunshin.

Naruto pushed his worries from his mind, and put on the fake smile he had become so accustomed to hiding behind as he opened the door to the classroom.

"Uzumaki! You're late!" Mizuki shouted as he motioned for Naruto to sit down. In truth, Naruto was actually about five minutes early, but when Mizuki-_sensei_ was teaching, he was always late regardless of the time.

"Sorry, Mizuki-sensei." Naruto deadpanned as he sat down next to Sakura. Naruto had immediately developed a massive crush on the pretty pink-haired girl when he first saw her years ago.

"Hi, Sakura-chan!" Naruto had to force the smile into his voice, but his ruse seemed to be passable as Sakura reacted in the same way she always did... by hitting him.

"Ugh! You idiot! What did I tell you about sitting next to me!" Sakura screeched and shoved Naruto back into the isle, much to the amusement of the rest of the class.

"Eheheh... Sorry about that, Sakura-chan. I kind of forgot." Like Naruto could forget, he remembered every single thing she had ever said to him. Nevertheless, Naruto pulled himself to his feet and took the empty seat two rows further back from her.

* * *

"Alright! Time for taijutsu practice! Everyone outside!" Mizuki shouted as he herded the class out into the training area behind the building.

"First up, let's have Sasuke-kun and Uzumaki."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted as he stepped forward into the sand-covered ring.

"Eh?! Why do I always have to fight Sasuke?" Naruto complained as he followed the broody boy into the circle.

"Because I said so, brat. Now start!"

From the second Mizuki's hand fell, Naruto was assaulted with a flurry of blows that his rather basic understanding of the academy taijutsu style just could not keep up with. Within seconds, Naruto was forced to the edge of the ring and had to resort to diving to the side in order to stay inside the circle.

"What's wrong? Can't fight back?" Sasuke drawled as he fell into a defensive stance and watched as Naruto staggered back to his feet.

"You wish!" Naruto retorted as he spit out some blood from a broken lip. Unfortunately, however, his offense faired about as well as his defense had, and he was once again sent crashing to the ground.

"Hn. That's all you've got? You haven't improved at all since last week." Sasuke smirked inwardly as the blond struggled to stand.

Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He would not let Sasuke get under his skin, especially not in public. If it really ended up bothering him, he'd deal with it later when he got home where no one would be able to see. Naruto took a second slow breath, forcing his emotions deep down inside of him. He couldn't explain it, but he suddenly felt calmer, more sure of himself, like there was some greater power welling up inside of him just waiting to be released.

**'That's it. Let go.'** Naruto heard the words echo around in his mind, but they didn't register with him as he let his body relax. He dropped down into a low stance and unclenched his fists. Unlike the broken academy style he was using before, his new posture positively screamed confidence. He had transformed from a cornered animal, boxed in by a vicious predator, into a fearsome beast himself.

Sasuke's next attack never landed. Naruto gracefully ducked under the blow and behind the raven-haired boy, his open hand striking the small of Sasuke's back and sending him stumbling forward.

"Hmm... Maybe you have gotten a little better. I guess even the dead last can improve eventually." Sasuke smirked as he turned around and made another charge at the blond, sending a quick series of jabs at the boy's chest.

**'Relax.'** Naruto skipped away from the blows, and slid inside the guard of his opponent with little effort. Naruto's punch slammed into Sasuke's stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs and sending him reeling backwards in shock.

Sasuke coughed heavily before launching himself back towards the blond in a hailstorm of kicks and punches, but he caught nothing but air as Naruto twisted around each strike like some kind of wild animal.

Just as Naruto readied to finish the fight, the strange feeling left him just as quickly as it had come, and he found himself crashing once more into the sand by Sasuke's vicious assault.

"I don't know what that was, but regardless of what you've been hiding, you're still dead last, Dobe." Sasuke grunted as he held his chest and looked down at the battered body of his schoolmate.

"Well done as always, Sasuke-kun!" Mizuki smiled at the Uchiha prodigy before glaring down at Naruto who was just struggling onto his hands and knees.

"Uzumaki! Get out of the way already." Naruto glared at his teacher as he hauled himself up off the ground and staggered over to the nearby wall.

"Hinata. Sakura. You two are up next." Mizuki waved his hand vaguely at the two girls as he made sure Sasuke was alright.

"I-I will not lose to you." Hinata whispered as she stepped into the ring.

"We'll see about that." Sakura smirked.

The two girls clashed in textbook perfect form, but neither was able to gain any specific advantage over the other. As they broke apart after a particularly long clash, a loud yell came from the sidelines.

"Go, Sakura-chan!" Sakura could feel the vein bulging in her forehead as she spun around to verbally assault the blond idiot again.

Hinata's eyes narrowed as she watched the pink-haired girl in front of her threaten to strike Naruto. "Hya!" Hinata shouted, and in the blink of an eye, closed the distance to the other girl. Sakura barely had time to turn around before Hinata was on top of her, closing down her tenketsu with ruthless Hyuuga efficiency.

"D-Do not turn your b-back on me." Hinata glared at the crumpled heap on the ground that was her opponent. For the longest time, Hinata had no issues with the pinkette, but her recent treatment of Naruto had really begun to rub her the wrong way.

"F-Forgive me, Sakura-san." Hinata mumbled as she knelt down next to the prone girl and quickly undid the damage that her strikes had caused.

"It's... It's okay, Hinata-chan. I should have taken the fight more seriously." Sakura tried to smile at the usually timid girl, but she found it extremely hard to make eye contact with the Hyuuga heiress.

"I... I let my emotions take control of me. I am sorry." Hinata bowed formerly before quickly running away and back inside of the academy building.

* * *

"Settle down!" Iruka was forced to shout over the roar of his students as they came back inside from lunch. It took him almost ten minutes to finally get the class quiet enough for him to speak.

"As you all know, the graduation exams are coming up soon. While normally they would still be a few months away, the council has decided to push the examination date forward." Iruka sighed at the looks of confusion on his student's faces."The examination date has been set for next week."

"What?! I thought we had three months left to study!"

"Don't worry about it, Sakura-chan! You're the smartest in our class, so you'll pass no problem!" Naruto smiled as he turned around to face the girl in the seat behind him only to get punched in the face.

"Shut up, Naruto!"

"Settle down!" Iruka shouted once again in a desperate attempt to remain in control of his classroom. "I realize that this is unusual, but every last one of you is as ready as you can be for the test." Iruka smiled at his students.

"Regardless of that fact, I do think that we should spend the remainder of our last week together in review, so everyone please turn to page fifty-seven in your text books." The class groaned in unison as Iruka smirked at them; he was certainly going to miss this bunch.

* * *

"Sakura-chan! Want to go get some ramen with me!" Naruto yelled as he jumped up from his seat and cut Sakura off from leaving at the end of class.

"Get out of my way idiot!" Sakura shouted as she tried to push past him, but only succeeded in causing both of them to tumble down the stairs and end up in a tangled pile at the bottom.

"Get off of me!" Sakura shoved the blond boy off of herself and looked up just in time to see Sasuke leave the room.

"Damn it, Naruto! You made me miss Sasuke-kun! Again!" Sakura shrieked as she slammed her fist into the top of his head, sending the boy crashing back down to the floor.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan..." Naruto mumbled as he got back to his feet and forced his gaze onto the floor. "I just wanted to buy you some ramen..."

"How many times do I have to tell you, Naruto?! I. Hate. Ramen. I do not want to go anywhere with you! I'm in love with Sasuke-kun, not you. I want Sasuke-kun to buy me things, not you. Leave me alone! Don't talk to me. Don't even look at me!" Sakura screamed at him.

"You're stupid. You're clumsy. You're a horrible ninja. Why would I want to go _anywhere_ with a no-talent moron like you when I can ask Sasuke-kun out instead?! _NEVER_ ask me again. Don't even think about ever asking me again. I want _NOTHING_ to do with you, you... you _MONSTER_!" Sakura screamed the first insult that came into her mind. Honestly, she wasn't sure why 'monster' was at the top of that list, but she had heard other people call him similar things often enough. If she hadn't been so caught up in her verbal assault, she might have noticed the silent tears falling onto the floor at Naruto's feet.

"I... I..." Naruto choked on his own words for a moment before he managed to ruthlessly squash his emotions back down. "I understand. I won't bother you again, H-Haruno-san." Naruto barely managed to get the words out without breaking down again. He had to resort to forcing himself to do breathing exercises just to manage walking out of the room without bursting into tears again.

Hinata crossed the room in a flash, moving far faster than anyone had ever seen her move before, and slammed her fist into the side of Sakura's face. The sheer force of the punch sent the pink-haired girl reeling backwards into a desk and down to the ground.

"How _DARE_ you say that to Naruto-kun! That poor boy has done nothing but be nice to you. He's stood up for you, protected you, and cheered you on with all his heart for years, and _THAT_ is how you treat him?!" Hinata yelled as Sakura slowly staggered back to her feet. Before the pinkette could even respond, Hinata launched back into her tirade.

"Naruto-kun has been fighting for you since before you even knew he existed! Remember all those bullies that used to pick on you? Remember how they all suddenly stopped? That was Naruto. Remember when you got lost and couldn't find your way home, and you found all those arrows drawn in the dirt? That was Naruto. If you had asked, Naruto-kun would have given you everything he had just because you had been the one to ask him for it!" Sakura just stared dumbly as the raging Hyuuga continued.

"He treated you like a princess, and you treated him like dirt! Naruto-kun is not a monster, he's about as far from being one as anyone could possibly be. No, Haruno Sakura, the real monster is _YOU_." Hinata screamed the last words at the girl before turning around and running after Naruto, praying franticly that she would find him before he did anything desperate.

* * *

The second the classroom door clicked closed behind him, Naruto took off running. He didn't care where he was going, or how far he went, only that he continued to run. How could Sakura, of all people, say that to him? Sure, he might have been irritating, annoying even, but he never did anything to deserve _that_.

"She... She thinks I'm a monster..." Naruto had heard the word used to describe him before, that was nothing new, but to hear it from her was simply too much. His smiling mask had been chipped away at for years, but he always managed to put it back together eventually. When she had said those words to him, however, it was like hitting it with a sledgehammer; there just wasn't enough pieces left to fix.

Night fell down around him as Naruto ran further and further away from the academy, and further away from the pain. By the time he finally stopped, Naruto was on the other side of the village, deep inside one of the more heavily forested training grounds. Naruto slumped down into the massive branches of an ancient oak tree as mental and physical exhaustion finally forced him into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Hinata left the academy only a few minutes behind Naruto, but by the time she got outside and activated her Byakugan, he already had a sizable lead on her. It took everything Hinata had just to keep him within the range of her eyes as he shot across the village, and even with her enhanced vision, she managed to lose track of him on more than one occasion.

By the time Hinata finally found him, the sun had long since set and it was starting to drizzle out. Seeing Naruto curled up in a tiny ball, shivering and tossing around in his sleep, she couldn't help but feel bad for him.

"He's going to catch a cold out here like this..." Hinata mumbled to herself as she looked down at the boy. She didn't dare disturb what little sleep he was likely to get after today, so she did the only other thing she could think of; she quickly pulled off her jacket and laid it over him like a blanket. It wasn't much, but at least it would help.

* * *

**'Boy.'** A deep rumbling voice echoed through Naruto's head as he tossed and turned in his sleep. Unlike before, however, he actually registered the fact that someone was talking to him.

**'Open your eyes, boy.'** There was that voice again. Hesitantly, Naruto opened his eyes, fully expecting some angry ANBU to be standing in front of him, but instead he found himself in what looked like a massive sewer. There were dozens upon dozens of pipes running all over the walls and ceiling, and whatever he was standing in, it didn't look present.

**'Over here.'** The voice echoed through the passage ways as Naruto slogged through the murky, ankle-deep water towards the source of the sound.

**'Good. Good. Only a little further.'** The voice boomed as Naruto entered a large chamber that was lined by several passageways along three of the walls. The fourth wall, however, was comprised entirely of a pair of huge iron gates that were sealed shut by a simple piece of paper.

**'We meet at last, Namikaze Naruto.'** The voice reverberated around the room as a large shadow shifted behind the cage.

"What? Where am I? And my name's Uzumaki Naruto, not Namikaze."

**'You've been lied to. **_**They**_** lied to you. You are Namikaze Naruto.'** The voice shook the entire chamber as the shadow moved closer to the bars.

"Who's 'they'? And you still haven't told me where I am yet." Naruto squinted to try and see through the almost unnatural darkness behind the bars of the huge gate.

**'You wish to know where you are?'**

"Uh-huh..." Naruto nodded his head shakily at the question. Based on the monstrous tone of the voice, he was starting to believe that he didn't actually want to hear the answer.

**'My prison!'** The voice roared as the shadow lunged at the bars, causing Naruto to stumble back in fear. Behind the barrier was an impossibly large fox with nine massive tails and menacing red eyes.

"What... What the hell are you?"

**'I'm the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The legendary nine-tailed demon fox. That blasted village sealed me inside of you. That's the reason they hate you. They despise the fact that we continue to survive. That we've managed to live on despite all of the attempts on our lives.'** The Kyuubi chuckled at the look of sheer shock and revulsion Naruto's face, causing the entire room to vibrate. **'Did you really think all of those attacks were accidents? Did you really think that your life was **_**supposed**_** to be like this? Did you really expect them to accept you? You Foolish child! No, they were trying to kill you, boy. They were trying to exact revenge for deaths that they brought upon themselves!'**

"What... What do you want with me?" Naruto asked, his voice still shaky, but he was standing his ground in front of the massive demon fox.

**'I... I want to propose a deal, boy. A partnership if you will. I've had twelve long years to examine the seal that was used to bind me in here, and sadly it is quite impossible for me to regain the freedom that I once had. There is, however, a way that we may be of mutual use to each other...**

**'You hate that village, don't you? You want to make them pay for how they heaped abuse upon a child that should have been treated as a hero. They ruined your life. They destroyed your hopes and dreams before you even had them! You think you can become Hokage in a village full of people like that? Do not be so idealistic.'**

"They... They did this to me?" Naruto's fists were balled up at his sides, his whole body shaking in silent fury.

**'Not just anyone, boy, the fourth Hokage. Your own father sacrificed himself, and forfeited any chance for you to have a normal life, for that village, and they treated you like a monster.'** The Kyuubi smirked as he watched the rage build even higher behind Naruto's eyes.

"My... My father?"

**'Namikaze Minato. Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure. Savior, hero, and the and _slayer_ of the great nine-tailed demon fox!'** The Kyuubi's vicious laughter filled the room.

"My father did... My father did this to me?"

**'To save his precious village. To protect his beloved family. To rid the world of a _monster_. If only he knew who the real monsters were...'**

"R-Real... monsters?" Naruto's voice cracked, and he could feel the blood flowing between his fingers from the gouges his nails had made in his palms.

**'That village... Those _people_ attacked my family! They slaughtered my kin in cold blood. We did _NOTHING_ to warrant their attack. We may have been demons. We may have been _monsters._ We may have done terrible things in the past, but we... I did not deserve to watch my children burn for crimes they did not commit! No father should be forced to watch their pups die in front of them. No, we may have been demons, but we had _HONOR_! We had standards! Your... Your village attacked unprovoked, and for reasons I still have yet to hear!'**

"But... But... My father..."

**'Your father had nothing to do with it. He was a remarkable man, even by my standards. No, the man who was responsible worked from the shadows, manipulating your father and his precious village into destroying everything I held dear.'** The giant fox growled, sending ripples through the water on the floor.

"What, exactly, are you offering?"

**'I want revenge. I want to watch the people responsible for the deaths of my children choke on their own blood. In exchange, I'm willing pledge my eternal loyalty to you, and your clan should you so choose to revive it, in the most powerful way possible. I am offering to you, Namikaze Naruto, something that has not existed in your world for thousands of years. I wish to exchange the summoning contract of the Fox Clan for your help in eliminating the people who have ruined our lives. Do you accept?'**

"Just... Just tell me what I have to do."

* * *

**A/N:**

Yes, more angst... I know, I know, I'm sorry! This is the last chapter that involves Naruto's shitty childhood, and there's one more scene coming up in the next chapter, but after that things start getting better. Now, I know I said Naruto wasn't going to go emo on you, and he won't, but in order for him to become the person he has to be, these kinds of things need to happen. Right cannot exist without wrong.

Also, I know Hinata comes off a little... stalkerish, but well... she kinda is in canon, so you'll just have to deal with it. In regards to her sudden bout of forwardness during the festival scenes, well... anonymity and infatuation can be very powerful motivators. Don't expect her to always be the way she is in this chapter. She's had quite a bit of pent up emotion to drive her lately :P

I hope you enjoy the slightly OOC Kyuubi. Far too many people play him off either as some sort of power figure that decides to pity/train Naruto to ensure his own survival, or as some crazed monster bent on total world domination. The Kyuubi in my story is kind of a middle ground. He's done terrible things (in humanity's eyes), but he's bound by his own code of honor. He's not a complete monster, nor is he completely repentant. Just how he ends up in the end is my little secret for now though :P

Oh, and Warriors of Fate Chapter 6 IS coming... I've just hit a bit of writer's block :/

Translations:

Golden Birthday – One's golden birthday is the birthday when you turn the same age as the date of your birth. For example, Naruto's is when he turns 10 on October 10th.

Kimono – A type of formal wear worn by Japanese people (both men and women contrary to some beliefs :P).

Takoyaki – Octopus dumplings that are commonly served during festivals.

Bunshin no Jutsu – Clone Technique

Tenketsu – Chakra points. These are the areas that are targeted by the Hyuuga's Juken (gentle fist) style.

Byakugan – Literally means 'white eyes' It's also the Hyuuga clan's Kekki-genkai (blood-line limit), which gives them a near 360 degree range of vision and allows them to see chakra and over great distances.


	3. Not So Secret Secrets

**Chapter 3 – Not So Secret Secrets**

"Ugh... My head..." Naruto groggily opened his eyes to the sound of dripping water and the rustling of foliage. "Where the hell am I?"

**'Outside.'** The deep rumbling voice that Naruto now knew to be the Kyuubi no Kitsune responded.

"Wha?!" Naruto jumped suddenly, not expecting an answer to his rhetorical question, and promptly crashed down to the ground in a shower of leaves, Hinata's jacket landing over his head.

"Huh? What's this?" Naruto held up the article of clothing in front of him to get a better look.

**'You ask far too many questions you already know the answers to, boy.'**

"This is Hinta-chan's jacket... but why do I have it?" Naruto scratched the back of his head in confusion as he looked at the tan coat in his hand. "Right... That. Guess I should go return it to her..."

**'Remember what you must do today...'**

"Ya... Ya... You gave me the list... I know..."

**'Do not forget how they treat you. It may not be as simple as you seem to think.'**

"Right..." Naruto unconsciously looked down at his feet.

**'And will you stop talking to yourself already? You do not need to speak in order to communicate with me.'**

"Really? How?" Naruto tilted his head oddly as he pondered how exactly one could talk without speaking.

**'Just think about talking to me and I'll hear it. Now with that said, let me know when you have everything ready, preferably without making everyone else around you think that you're insane.'**

_'Yeah... yeah... I get it, talking to thin air makes me look odd. Anything else?'_

**'No. That was it. Just get your hands on those things we talked about as soon as possible. I'm not getting any stronger in here...'**

_'Right.'_

"Well better go return this before I forget..." Naruto looked down at the jacket in his hands and began making his way towards the Hyuuga compound.

* * *

Naruto watched the pair of guards standing on either side of the main gate of the Hyuuga compound wearily. He couldn't just walk up and ask to be let in, he knew how the Hyuuga felt about him, and they'd never agree to just let him waltz through the front door. Thankfully, neither of the guards seemed to be particularly attentive, and Naruto was able to sneak around to the side of the complex and over the wall thanks to the help from a very conveniently placed tree. Why a clan so focused on security allowed such an easy method of entry into their compound was beyond him, but he pushed his thoughts from his mind as a new challenge presented itself... He had absolutely no idea where Hinata's room was.

After a few minutes of searching around, Naruto finally came across the largest building of the complex. It was set at the back of the compound, and was shaped like a large hollow square that had a section cut out of it to allow entry into the open courtyard in the middle. As he approached the first of the sliding paper doors of the building, he noticed that there were name tags next to them. It only took him a few more minutes of looking around before he finally found the one that corresponded to the owner of the jacket in his hands.

"Hinata?" He took a deep breath and knocked on the frame of the door. Naruto had to knock three more times before he finally heard movement, and after a few more moments, it finally slid open revealing a very tired looking Hinata. She obviously had not been expecting a visit this early in the morning as she was only wearing an over-sized white t-shirt and a pair of baggy gray pants. What caught Naruto's attention, however, was the black and white bathrobe she had thrown on over top of her clothes, or more precisely, the panda-shaped hood of said bathrobe.

Hinata yawned groggily as she tried to rub the sleepiness from her eyes. It was much too early for even her father to be asking for her. As her vision finally cleared, she got a good look at the person who had woken her up at five in the morning. Naruto was just standing their blushing with that silly smirk of his playing across her face. It took several seconds for it to finally dawn on Hinata exactly _why_ he was looking at her like that.

"Eep!" Hinata blushed furiously before slamming the sliding door closed.

"Eh? Hinata?"

Hinata slid down the frame of the door, taking deep calming breaths as she desperately tried to remain conscious and force her blush back down. It took several moments before she felt confident enough to move, and another five before she managed to dress and open the door again.

"Umm... S-Sorry about that, N-Naruto-kun." Hinata whispered in a small voice as she tried to hide her quickly returning blush.

"Eh... It's okay, Hinata-chan. I just wanted to return your jacket." Naruto held out the aforementioned article of clothing. "Sorry it's so wet..."

Hinata's gaze drifted from her sopping wet coat and up to Naruto's face. She hadn't noticed initially due to her earlier embarrassment, but the boy was absolutely drenched.

"You're s-soaked..."

"Heh... I kind of slept outside last night by accident." Naruto laughed, but Hinata could immediately tell that it was hollow, and how could it not be after what he had just gone through?

"N-Naruto-kun... Please, c-come in." Hinata managed to squeak out with only some minor stuttering. Hinata could see him working desperately to maintain the fake smile he always wore, and that worried her. He had worn it for so long now that Hinata couldn't even tell when he was using it anymore, but now... now it was as plain and obvious as that orange jumpsuit of his. Clearly, yesterday affected him far more than he was willing to let on.

"That's okay, Hinata-chan. I kind of had to sneak in here anyway. I wouldn't want to get you in trouble or anything like that."

"In." Hinata opened the door completely and pointed inside. She had no idea where all of this confidence was coming from, but she would not just let him sit out there and catch a cold.

"A-Alright, Hinata-chan." Naruto slipped his sandals off and stepped a few feet into the room. It was almost as big as his entire apartment, but it seemed even bigger thanks to the minimal décor. Low shelves lined the wall the door was on, as well as the wall across from him, above which was an expertly mounted kimono that seemed oddly familiar. To his right was a second western-style door that presumably lead to a bathroom, next to which was another set of shelves with a small fishbowl on top. On the floor to his left was a rather hastily made futon that was positioned under a row of windows that took up most of the left wall.

"You have a really nice room, Hinata-chan." Naruto finally commented, still standing in the same spot as a rapidly growing puddle of water grew beneath his feet.

"Your clothes are d-drenched. M-My bathroom is just through there. T-There's a bathrobe you can ch-change into while I get your clothes dried." Hinata pointed to the other door in the room before turning away and blushing furiously.

A few minutes later, Naruto was back in her room in the same panda bathrobe Hinata had been wearing earlier. "Umm... Thank you, Hinata..."

"It's n-not a p-problem, N-Naruto-kun." Hinata tried desperately to stifle a giggle at his appearance, but she failed miserably. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought that he had just gotten out of the shower. "You... You look c-cute." Naruto just grumbled as she hurried out of the room towards the clothes dryer.

While he waited for Hinata to return, Naruto slowly mulled about her room. His eyes drifted back towards the kimono on the wall. He couldn't place it, but he knew that he had seen it somewhere before. As he continued to wander around the room, he eventually came to a shelf nestled in the far corner. It was filled with all sorts of random things that just didn't fit in with the rest of the room's contents. There was a pair of restaurant chopsticks, a battered and abused copy of Legend of the Gutsy Ninja that was far beyond readable, a nicked and slightly bent kunai, and a pair of goggles that looked very much like the pair that he used to wear when he was younger. He was about to move on when something in the far back caught his attention. Unable to resist, Naruto decided to satisfy his curiosity and pulled the object out. It was covered in a thick lair of dust, but even so, Naruto recognized it immediately. It was a mask, and not just any mask, it was _her_ mask.

"... Naruto-kun?" Hinata stopped short at the entrance of her room when she saw him in her corner. It was where she kept everything that reminded her of Naruto... like his first kunai, the goggles he used to wear, and his copy of Legend of the Gutsy Ninja that she had salvaged from the trash when his apartment had caught fire when they were little.

"... It was you..." Naruto turned around slowly, tears in his eyes, as he showed her the mask.

"... I... I... N-Naruto-kun. I-I wanted to tell you, but I..." Hinata's apology was cut short as Naruto launched across the room and engulfed her in a hug.

"Thank you. Thank you so much for that night, Hinata-chan."

"Umm... Umm... You-You're q-quite welcome, N-Naruto-kun." Hinata could feel the blush burning on her cheeks and she was starting to get dizzy, "... H-Here's your c-clothes."

"Oh! Thanks... I'll... I'll just get changed then." Naruto took the bundle of clothes from the beat red girl and returned to the bathroom to dress.

"You were the one leaving all of those gifts, right?" Naruto asked as he walked back into the room a few moments later.

Hinata nodded, unable to trust her voice at the moment.

"Thank you. They... They were the only thing that kept me going back then."

"You're w-welcome." Hinata whispered. She was going to to comment on how it was the least she could do, but before she could, the sound of soft footsteps came from just outside her door.

"I... I better go." Naruto blushed. "You don't mind if I use your window do you?" Hinata could only shake her head as he grabbed his sandals from where he had left them by the door and vanished out into the morning sun. No sooner had he left, the door to Hinata's room opened and her father walked in.

"Ah, you're up already. Good. It's time for your morning training."

* * *

Naruto watched, deep in thought, as a chunin entered the ninja supply store across the street. He couldn't just walk into the building as it was one of the stores that only supplied chunin ninja and above, and as such, a simple academy student would be turned away at the door. With his luck, not only would he get turned away, but it was rather likely that he'd get stabbed for his efforts as well. Unfortunately, it was also the only store in the village that sold the specially prepared sealing scrolls that he needed.

Just as he was about to give up and return to his apartment to think, Naruto spotted his Academy teacher, Umino Iruka, walking down the street and something he had said earlier that week popped into his head.

_'The strength and believability of a henge is entirely dependent on the focus of the user and the amount of chakra used.'_

Naruto had proved to be extremely bad at simple ninjutsu in the past, but hopefully if he put as little chakra into the technique as possible and focused as hard as he could, he might just be able to pull it off.

Naruto slipped into the nearby ally and double checked to make sure no one was watching. He took a deep breath and formed a ram sign.

"Henge no Jutsu." Naruto walked over to a small puddle on the ground and checked his reflection. Staring back at him was a teenager roughly a foot taller than himself, and instead of a head of shockingly blond hair, he had a mop of exceedingly dull brown. Naruto's orange jumpsuit was replaced by an exact copy of the standard chunin uniform. His whisker scars had vanished, and his smoldering sapphire eyes were replaced with pools of muddy brown. It was almost startling how detailed the henge was, and if _he_ couldn't tell it was him, surely no one else could, right?

The newly disguised Naruto exited the ally and walked up to the store before taking a deep breath and entering. It took only a moment of searching before he found what he was looking for: A massive foot thick sealing scroll that came up to his elbows and five smaller scrolls, all of which were a deep crimson red with thick black bands on either side. He also grabbed a large bottle of ink, a brush, and a black leather sash to hold the larger scroll. It took a few minutes for Naruto to get everything to the counter and pay for it all, and even at the normal prices, it cost him almost all of his meager savings.

Thirty minutes later, Naruto had everything spread out on the floor of his small living room.

_'Alright. I have everything ready.'_

**'Good. Good. You know what to do next...' **Naruto nodded at the disembodied voice of the Kyuubi in his head and begun forming hand signs.

"Kinjutsu: Kitsunetsuki." There was a brief flash of red light as Naruto completed the final seal.

_**'Alright. Do it.'**_ Naruto's voice echoed in his own mind, but it was deeper than normal. It was more primal... more savage. If he had looked in the mirror, he would have seen that his whisker scars had darkened and his eyes had shifted from their usual cold blue to a deep red, and that his pupils had become narrow and slitted.

**'Very well. Let us get started.'** The Kyuubi's voice rumbled as Naruto began painting the same exceedingly complex seal on the five smaller scrolls in a sort of trance. An hour later all five seals were complete, and Naruto used kunai to affix one onto each wall of the room as well as the ceiling.

**'I will need your direct help for this next part.'** The Kyuubi's voice resounded in Naruto's mind.

_**'Got it.'**_ Naruto responded mentally as he unrolled the massive scroll in the middle of the floor.

"**Fuujutsu: Kitsune Keiyaku no Sakusei" **Both Naruto and the Kyuubi spoke as he finished making hand seals and slammed his palms onto the blank scroll. The second his hands touched the paper, a massive burst of crimson chakra exploded outward. As the wave of energy reached the edges of the room, the five smaller seals activated and redirected the chakra back towards the scroll. Within seconds the air surrounding the scroll was swirling with an unimaginable amount of demonic chakra.

**'I have contributed the chakra and the knowledge. You must be the one to focus it.'** The Kyuubi's voice echoed in his mind, but it sounded far weaker than he usually did.

Naruto merely nodded as he closed his eyes and focused. A tower of sapphire blue chakra rocketed outwards from the boy as he willed it to contain the torrent of crimson chakra spiraling around him. Naruto's chakra began to swirl in the opposite direction from the demonic energy, forcing it down towards the scroll, and after twenty minutes of intense focus, the chakra dissipated as the five smaller scrolls fell to the ground burnt to ashes. The larger scroll, however, was undamaged, and covered almost completely with complex seals burnt into the paper.

**'It is done. The foxes have accepted. As the founder of the contract, you and your family will be able to summon them with only a sacrifice of chakra. All others who they deem worthy will be forced to contribute a blood sacrifice. Only one thing remains to do... You must sign the contract yourself.'**

Naruto looked back down at the scroll. The faintly glowing seals had vanished, leaving pristine white paper separated into thousands of sections by crimson lines. Naruto unfurled the scroll completely and looked at the the first spot of the contract.

_'How do I sign it?'_ Naruto asked, idly noting that at least his mental voice had returned to normal.

**'Focus your chakra into your finger and use that to sign your full name. When you're done place your palm under it and focus chakra through your hand.'**

_'That's it?'_

**'That is it. Now, if you don't mind, I am quite tired. You will likely not be able to contact me for several days.'**

Naruto followed the instructions, and drew his name on the paper, his finger burning the characters into the pristine white surface. As he placed his hand under the kanji for 'Namikaze Naruto' he felt his chakra flare, and his palm print scorched itself onto the paper. As Naruto took his hand off of the scroll, he suddenly felt dizzy, his vision blurred, and he fell backwards unconscious.

* * *

It was several hours before Naruto regained consciousness, and another hour after that before he had the strength to open his eyes. He tried to sit up, but a pressure on his chest prevented him from moving.

"Ah! I'm glad to see that you are awake at last, Naruto-sama." A small voice spoke from in front of him. It almost sounded as if it was mocking him.

"Ugh... Who's talking... I can't see anything." Naruto mumbled as he felt the pressure leave his chest and he was finally able to sit up. Sitting in front of him on top of the newly made summoning contract was a small black fox roughly the size of a large house cat.

"My name is Genkuro." The fox gave him a toothy smirk and bowed his head, his tail swishing behind him. "I was sent to aid you as your personal summon. You should be able to summon me just by calling my name and flaring your chakra a little." Genkuro bowed his head again as he stood and walked around Naruto.

"Though I must say, your choice in clothing leaves quite a bit to be desired. Did you really have to pick an outfit that stands out so much? If you are to summon foxes, Naruto-sama, then you must begin to think like them. We are sly, crafty, and quick, not loud, obnoxious, and brash."

Naruto looked down at his hands, the fox had his outward personality pinned after just looking at him once. "I... I'm not really that loud, or obnoxious... It's just... It helps me hide the pain. If everyone sees me smiling and being an idiot they don't ask questions and leave me alone. When I was little... the villagers always attacked me and I would cry and run away, and then they would just get worse. Seeing me upset only seemed to egg them on, so I stopped showing them. After awhile, all they ever saw was smiles and laughter, and eventually they gave up trying to break me. Now they just despise me from the shadows and make my life harder whenever they can."

Genkuro watched the boy who was to be the first fox summoner in a thousand years as he poured his heart and soul out to him, and then he understood _why_ the boy had been chosen. All he wanted was to be acknowledged, to be loved, and it had been denied to him. He had a desperate need to prove himself, and he had the mind and talent to do it. He also displayed most of the qualities that the fox clan praised above all others amongst their own. He was cunning, loyal, and a devious prankster. Perhaps, just perhaps, this boy was more than what he initially seemed.

"Naruto-sama... I believe I understand. Please forgive me." Genkuro lowered his head onto his front paws and adverted his gaze.

"No... You're right... I don't act like a ninja. I guess it's time I started." Naruto looked down at the little black fox and smiled his first real smile in years. This tiny creature understood what he had gone through and didn't fault him for his actions. For the first time in his life, Naruto had someone he could talk to and not feel like he was just placing his burdens on the shoulders of others.

Naruto tried to stand up, but he barely got to his feet before swaying and almost falling back down.

"Naruto-sama... You should rest. Almost all of your chakra was expended in order to create the contract. Please rest. I will watch over you." Genkuro hoped onto Naruto's kitchen table and pointed towards his bedroom with his tail.

* * *

"Uzumaki Naruto? Uzumaki Naruto? Naruto! If you're here you better answer me!" Umino Iruka looked over his classroom one more time to confirm that the boy was indeed absent for the third day in a row. _'Damn it, Naruto! You better not be out pranking again!'_

Iruka put his thoughts out of his mind until the end of class when he decided he should probably send someone to make sure the boy was alright.

"Hinata, could you please wait a moment?" Iruka asked the shy girl just as she passed the teacher's desk at the end of the day.

"O-Of course, Umino-sensei. What is it I can do for you?" Hinata bowed formally.

Iruka smiled at the girl. She was certainly respectful, he'd give her that. "I'd like you to check up on Uzumaki Naruto for me. He hasn't been to class in three days and I'm beginning to think something is wrong. Also, someone has to deliver all of the study work he's missed." Iruka smirked as he handed the stack of papers to the blushing girl.

* * *

"Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Wake up!" Naruto grumbled unintelligently for a moment before trying to roll over, only to be prevented by a weight on his chest.

"Naruto-sama you _must_ wake up! Someone is coming and I cannot stop them without revealing myself."

"I'm up... I'm up..." Naruto yawned as he sat up and opened his eyes only to find himself face to face with Genkuro, his slitted amber eyes showing a small bit of worry behind their usual devious glint.

"How long was I out?"

"You were asleep for approximately fifty-seven hours and forty-six minutes, Naruto-sama."

"How long?!"

"Just under two and a half days, but we have more urgent matters to attend to. Someone is approaching your residence."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"Aside from the fact that it's three o'clock in the afternoon and you're not dressed?" Genkuro flashed him a quick smirk before quickly becoming serious again. "Your living room is an absolute mess. There are several burn marks that were caused by the contract creation, and then there is the contract itself, which is still lying open in the middle of the room. I'm sure that it would be an interesting conversation starter, but I do not think it would be wise to reveal that the fox contract is once more in the land of humans just now, and especially not in the middle of Konoha."

"Right... What do you suggest I do about it then?"

"You? You get dressed. I can move the scroll and hide the burn marks with genjutsu."

"Alright..." Naruto slid out of bed as the fox jumped to the floor and scampered out of the room. Just as Naruto finished getting his pants on, Genkuro had returned carrying the summoning contract with his tail. If Naruto had more time, he would have been amazed at how the cat sized fox was able to carry a scroll that was easily five times his size and ten times his weight. By the time Naruto pulled a shirt on, Genkuro had already placed the scroll on his bed and left the room.

Naruto yawned again and padded slowly into his living room and was shocked to find that it looked just as it always had. He gave the small fox that was sitting on his coffee table a curious glance before a soft knock at his door drew his attention.

"I shall remain out of sight unless I am needed, Naruto-sama." Genkuro bowed before hopping off of the table and vanishing just as he touched the ground.

Naruto yawned again as he slowly crossed the room and opened the door, only to find a beet red Hinata standing on the other side. "Hinata-chan?"

"Good afternoon, N-Naruto-kun. Umino-sensei sent me to ch-check up on you because you've m-missed so much class lately."

"Oh... Might as well come in then..." Naruto yawned as he stepped aside to let the girl in before closing the door behind her. As Hinata looked around the living room, Naruto flopped down on his couch and leaned his head back, just barely stifling another yawn.

"N-Naruto-kun... Are you alright?" Hinata asked as she pushed her index fingers together nervously.

"I'm... I'm fine, Hinata-chan. Just tired. You can tell Iruka-sensei that I'll be in class tomorrow."

"He also asked m-me to bring you your homework." Hinata showed him the stack of papers.

"Oh... Figures he'd do something like that... Just toss them on my kitchen counter..." Naruto yawned and closed his eyes tiredly.

Hinata nodded at the boy as she set the stack of papers down on the counter. Just as she was about to turn back into the living room, a piece of paper on Naruto's kitchen table caught her attention. Curious, Hinata picked it up, but she was unable to suppress her gasp as she read it.

"Everything alright, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked as he leaned his head to the side to look at the girl.

"N-No... Not one b-bit. Naruto-kun... H-How long have you been paying this much for your apartment?" She waved the piece of paper in her hand at him.

"Eh? Since I was about eight I think... Why?"

"You're paying _far_ too much for it, that's why! Most of the high-end apartments the jounin rent are cheaper than this!"

"Doesn't surprise me honestly..."

"What?! How can you be so calm about this? They're price gouging you! It isn't right!" Hinata shouted a little louder than she had intended to.

"Ya, well, what is or isn't right doesn't matter much when it comes to me, Hinata, only what they believe about me."

"And what, exactly, do they believe about you that would make someone do this, Naruto-kun?" Hinata was fuming now. She hadn't meant to direct her anger at him; it just kind of happened.

"I... Umm... Look, I-I want to tell you, but... Just promise you'll let me explain, OK?"

"I-I... Of course, N-Naruto-kun." Hinata stuttered, the fear and worry in his voice stopping her tirade cold.

"I guess I should start from the beginning... You know when my birthday is, right?" Naruto waited for her to nod before continuing. "You also know how old I am, and what happened on the same day twelve years ago..."

"Oh Kami... No... Th-That isn't p-possible... The Yodaime k-killed the Kyuubi..."

"No, Hinata, he didn't... He wasn't strong enough, so he did the only thing he could do. He sealed it inside of me."

"I...I... Oh Kami..." Hinata rushed across the room and threw herself around the blond, the apartment bill fluttering to the ground forgotten. She had always known people hated him for something he had no control over, but _this_? What could she possibly do to make something like this better? Was there even anything she could do?

"Shh... It's alright. I'm used to it now. It doesn't really bother me anymore, so please... don't let it worry you either." Naruto awkwardly stroked the girl's back. He could hear her sniffling and tried his best to calm her down, but he wasn't quite sure what else to do.

"W-Why?"

"Why what, Hinata-chan?"

"Why do th-they have to treat you like they do?" Hinata sniffled again as she desperately tried to regain her composure. The way she was acting was against everything her father had ever tried to teach her, but she couldn't help but feel a small amount of the same pain Naruto must feel every day of his life.

"I don't know... Maybe they see me as a way to get revenge against the Kyuubi... Maybe they're scared and just lashing out... I just don't know, and it doesn't really matter to me anymore. All I know is that most of the people in the village absolutely despise me, and the few that don't are just the ones who don't know. " Naruto hugged Hinata tightly for a moment before continuing. "I... I would have told you earlier, but... I was afraid."

"A-Afraid of what, Naruto-kun?" Hinata finally regained some of her composure and got off of the blond, opting to sit on the couch seat next to him.

"I was afraid of losing my first real friend..."

"I-I'll always be your f-friend, Naruto-kun."

"Thanks, Hinata-chan." Naruto smiled at the girl next to him before yawning loudly. "Sorry... I guess I'm still really tired..."

"Th-That's alright, Naruto-kun. I-I'll just leave you to your rest." Hinata smiled back at him before making her way to his door and out into the village.

"You know, Naruto-sama, I think I like her." Genkuro's laughter echoed from the kitchen table the second the door clicked closed.

* * *

"Nice of you to join us today, Naruto." Iruka sighed as he watched the blond enter the room and waited for his usual stupid comeback, but it never came. Instead, the boy just silently walked up the steps towards the back of the classroom and sat down next to Hinata. Iruka raised an eyebrow at his choice of seating and tried to figure out exactly what was going on. Naruto had at least attempted to sit next to Sakura every single day since he had started teaching the boy last year, but today he didn't even so much as look at the girl. Clearly, something had happened between the two.

"Alright class, as you all know, the genin exams are tomorrow, so we'll be spending today going through a quick crash course to refresh all of your memories before the test. Now if you'd kindly turn to page 137 we'll begin."

Four hours of grueling textbook study later, the class finally broke for lunch. As Naruto made his way outside, he noticed Sakura standing in the doorway to the building. She, along with a half dozen other girls, were watching Sasuke as he idly practiced his kunai throwing on the large oak tree that was in the academy's front yard. None of the girls bothered moving out of the way for him, so Naruto was forced to shove his way past them in order to get outside.

"Excuse me, Haruno-san." Naruto deadpanned as he forced his way past the pink-haired girl and headed for the rope swing that he usually sat on during lunch.

Sakura watched the unusually quite boy walk off towards the rope swing. He had changed so much seemingly overnight. She idly wondered if it was because of her harsh words that caused him to become so sullen. Sakura almost felt bad for him... almost. Maybe if he hadn't been such a pain in the ass she would have felt differently, but he _was_ a pain in the ass, so it didn't really matter. Regardless of her reasoning, she couldn't help but follow his path with her eyes as he crossed the courtyard towards the tree. Sasuke, however, didn't notice, or just didn't care, that the boy was about to cross his line of sight, and let another kunai fly towards the tree. Sakura started to shout out a warning to the idiot so he wouldn't get himself killed, but before she could even get the first words out of her mouth, she was stopped cold when Naruto simply drew a kunai of his own and deflected Sasuke's into the ground without even breaking his stride.

Sasuke stared at the blond sitting on the rickety old swing and then down at the kunai sticking out of the grass curiously. Just when did he get so damn good? First he managed to get inside of his guard last week, and now this? The boy was clearly stronger than he let on, but why? What purpose could he have to hide such strength, and just where did he get it in the first place? Sasuke was unable to dwell on his thoughts for long, however, as the bell signaling the end of lunch rang and forced all of them back inside for another four hours of study.

* * *

Iruka sighed as he watched Naruto enter the empty classroom. This was not going to be a pleasant experience. Even if the boy seemed to have improved, it was still Naruto, and Naruto had failed this exam four times already. This was his last chance, and Iruka was not looking forward to crushing the boy's dreams, especially when it seemed that he was already downtrodden.

"Are you sure you're ready for this Naruto?" The boy just nodded quietly in response.

"Alright. First, please use henge to transform into a copy of me."

Naruto nodded and stared at Iruka for a moment before closing his eyes and focusing. Naruto was surprised to find that his chakra was just below the surface, already swirling around and ready to be used. He was even more shocked to note that he seemed to have a substantially greater control over it that he had last week. Without the Kyuubi's chakra distorting his own, Naruto was easily able to draw the required amount of energy and mold it into the technique without issue. "Henge no Jutsu!"

Iruka blinked a few times to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Staring back at him was an exact copy of himself, right down to the mole behind his left ear. The boy actually did it?

"I...I... Very well done, Naruto!" Iruka felt his worries leave him, perhaps he would not have to be the one to crush the boy's spirits. At least not today, anyway.

"Alright, how about showing me the kawarimi?" Iruka prompted while pointing towards a desk across the classroom.

"Kawarimi no Jutsu!" Naruto pulled his chakra around him and, with a quiet pop and a poof of smoke, switched places with the desk Iruka had indicated.

Iruka watched as the blond flawlessly switched places with the desk. This was the same Naruto that couldn't even throw a shuriken straight? Maybe this was another one of his pranks or something. People didn't improve like this overnight... At least not unless they already were that good and had just been hiding it, but why would the boy have been hiding his skills?

"Excellent. Now I just need you to create two bunshin." Bunshin. The bane of Naruto's existence. The boy had _never_ been able to so much as make any functioning bunshin, let alone two.

"Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto took a deep breath as he completed the hand seals, and began to feel his chakra flow outwards and into the technique. Fearful of overloading the technique _again_, Naruto instinctively clamped down on his chakra almost as soon as he felt it. Unfortunately, this had the same effect that his usual over-use of chakra did, and left him with a single sickly clone laying face first on the ground next to him.

"I... Please wait, Iruka-sensei! I can do this. I _know_ I can do this. Give me one more chance, please?" Naruto begged the man as soon as he saw the state his clone was in. He hated feeling so desperate like this, but he _needed_ to pass. If not to further his dreams then he had to pass to prove to himself that he wasn't the failure everyone told him he was.

"Alright, Naruto. One more try." Iruka sighed. He wanted the boy to pass, he really did, but he couldn't pass him as a teacher if he could not prove that he was ready.

"Bunshin no Jutsu!" This time when Naruto felt the tug on his chakra, he let go like he had been instructed to do. Before he had always had to hold back, but without the interference of the Kyuubi everything else seemed to function like it should, so maybe this would too. Naruto smiled as he looked to either side of him, finding a pair of perfect clones. For the first time in his life, Naruto was able to prove everyone wrong about him. He _would_ become a ninja.

"Well, Naruto, I think you've finally shown that you've earned this. Congratulations." Iruka smiled at the boy as he handed him his hitai-ate.

* * *

Naruto sighed as he looked across the empty classroom at his new teammates. Why did it have to be _them _of all people? He could have gotten Kiba's spot on Hinata's team, but no, he was stuck with the two people who hated his guts more than everyone else in the village combined. Sakura was sitting next to Sasuke on the other side of the room, completely ignoring him, as per usual, in favor of fawning over every little thing Sasuke did, while Sasuke, on the other hand, kept sending him withering glares every time the blond looked over. No one was happy about the precarious balance of personalities that already threatened to tear Team 7 apart, but on top of that their sensei was late. Three and a half hours late to be exact.

Just as the tension was about to cause the three rookie genin to explode, the soft creaking of the classroom door finally signaled the arrival of their sensei.

"Yo. You guys Team 7?" The scarecrow-like man asked, and when the three genin nodded he continued. "Great. Let's all meet up on the roof, shall we?" And before any of them could even so much as ask him his name he was gone. Naruto just shrugged and followed, leaving his two teammates to stare at the door dumbstruck.

"Right. Well, let's get to know each other a little better then. Let's start with you blondy." The silver haired man pointed at Naruto.

"Eh? What do you want me to say?"

"You know... You're name, likes, dislikes, dreams. That kind of thing."

"Right... My name's Uzumaki Naruto. I like... well, now that I think of it, there really isn't a whole lot of things I like, except ramen of course." Naruto suppressed the urge to shout as he spoke. His mask was long gone now, no sense in trying to keep up the act. "I dislike people who don't treat me like a person." Naruto stole a quick glance at his teammates before staring out over the village and grimacing. "My dreams... well..." He almost shouted out his usual line about wanting to become the Hokage, but that was really more of a pipe dream now that he thought about it. "... My dream is to never go back on my nindo."

Kakashi eyed the blond boy curiously. He was both alike and completely different from how the Sandaime had described him. He was not nearly as loud or obnoxious as he had been made out to be, but his ambitiousness was there just the same. Only it seemed to be hidden just under the surface rather than at the forefront of his personality like had been told it should have been. He didn't yell it at the top of his lungs, but he could see the desire to become Hokage burning in his eyes. Just like it had burned in Minato-sensei's eyes, but there was something else in those eyes that he also recognized all too well. Pain. Far more pain than any child should ever have to endure. His intentions fit the description of him to a T, but his mannerisms were way off mark. It was almost as if the boy was trying to be someone he wasn't, or perhaps he had always been someone he wasn't and this was the first time anyone was seeing the real Naruto.

Kakashi was pulled from his thoughts, however, when he heard the Uchiha boy begin talking. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are lots of things that I dislike, and I don't really like anything, and... I can't really call it a dream, but I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan... and to kill a certain man." Just as he thought, the boy had developed some sort of serious revenge driven complex, and if he didn't get over it, he would certainly become a danger. Both to himself, and the village. Sadly, Kakashi had been forbidden from failing the team on the grounds that the Uchiha heir required training, and since Kakashi was the only one with a sharingan left in the village the boy got dropped on his lap.

"Alright. You're up pinky."

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like...Well... Um... I like..." Sakura giggled and looked at Sasuke. "I dislike loud blond idiots." At this Sakura glared at Naruto coldly. "My dream is to..." Just as Sakura was about to finish, a woman with long purple hair wearing a cat mask landed next to Kakashi.

"Senpai... I'm afraid I have some rather serious news..." The woman in the mask addressed Kakashi as if the three of them weren't even there.

"What is it, Yuugao-chan? If you can't tell, I'm a tad bit busy at the moment." Kakashi nodded at the three genin behind the ANBU.

Yuugao didn't even turn around before continuing with her report. "Hokage-sama has been assassinated."

"Excuse me?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the woman in front of him. Outside he had only shown minor surprise, but inside his mind was working overtime. The Hokage was dead? Could this be some sort of prank? No. Yuugao never really kidded around much, especially not while on duty, so this was real, but how could the Hokage have been murdered while in the middle of the village?

"It was Mizuki... He used some excuse about Uzumaki to get a private audience with the Hokage, and then he just up and blew himself up." For the first time the woman looked over her shoulder and noticed the three children sitting on the bench. "Perhaps we should continue this someplace else..."

"No use now that you've already told them most of it... You said he just blew himself up?"

"He just... I don't know exactly how... Mitarashi said it was something that that snake bastard was working on... Something about converting all of a person's chakra to energy all at once... It's not a pretty sight... The entire office was still in flames when I left. Kakashi-senpai, they're ordering all the chunin and above to the tower." Yuugao looked back over her shoulder again at the now terrified looking children.

"Well I guess we better get going then." Kakashi looked at his three new students for a second before continuing. "You three better go home. This doesn't look good."

* * *

The funeral was held the next day. The entire ninja population of the village stood on top of the tower in front of the Hokage Monument. The Third's old teammates talked about how brave and successful he had been. How prosperous the village had been under his lead. How tragic his death was, and how sorely he would be missed.

Hinata watched Naruto carefully from the corner of her eye as she stood next to her father. He was the picture of shinobi perfection, dressed in the same simple black clothing as the rest of them. Naruto was standing tall and staring straight ahead, his head bowed reverently. On the outside he appeared calm... in control... but she new better. After years of watching the boy, she had learned to understand him to some degree. Hinata knew that inside Naruto was a mess. The man he had looked up to as a father was dead. His only family was dead. The only person who had seen him as Naruto the boy rather than Naruto the monster, and he was dead. Hinata just hoped that he would let it out at some point. Naruto had gone through enough already this week, he did not need to add anything more to it.

Naruto stood at the front of the group as he watched people take turns laying flowers in front of the picture of the Hokage. He was really gone. The man who had saved him from his own depression. The man who had given him a reason to keep going. The man who had given him a reason to stay. He was gone, and he wasn't going to be coming back. All of the pain that he had felt over the years had been dulled by the knowledge that the Hokage had believed in him. That he had seen something in him that wasn't the monster, but now... now he was gone... and there wasn't anyone left to keep the pain away.

The service ended, and shinobi began to filter back to their homes as a light rain began to fall. It was a spring shower, just heavy enough to darken the skies and wet the ground, but not heavy enough to send people running for shelter. It was as if the sky itself was weeping, and it was then that Naruto realized he didn't feel like going home. He needed to talk to someone, and there was only one person he could talk to.

Hinata frowned slightly as she watched Naruto leave the tower. He was headed in the opposite direction from his apartment. She quickly glanced at her father to ensure that he was busy before quietly sneaking off to follow the blond.

* * *

Naruto looked down at the simple grave marker and sighed. "What do I do, Jiji? Where do I go? How do I keep on living knowing that there's no one out the for me?" Naruto balled his fists as he stared down at the rain soaked stone. "You just had to get yourself blown up! You just had to leave me all alone!"

"Y-You are not alone, N-Naruto-kun." Hinata's soft voice drifted over the soft sound of the rain.

Naruto spun around to stare at the girl who had interrupted his grieving. Tears were falling freely from his cold blue eyes. It was like looking into the center of an ocean storm. His eyes were full of torment... suffering... and unimaginable pain.

"The pain will disappear in time, Naruto-kun. Just like these tears in the rain." Hinata took a hesitant step forward and wiped away the tears that were still falling from his eyes. She didn't even notice that her stutter was gone. All that mattered at the moment was that she do something... anything... to help him deal with his loss. Kami knew no one else would.

"I... I lost my mother when I was young. She was killed protecting me from a kidnapper. I know how you're feeling. I know it hurts, but please, _please_ believe me when I say it will go away with time." Hinata slid closer to the boy and drew him into a hug. Naruto latched onto the girl as if she were a life preserver thrown to a drowning man.

Naruto didn't know how long he stayed like that, clutching onto Hinata for dear life. She was the only one there, but she _was_ there.

**'Boy. You cannot stay here.'**

_'Not now... Please, just leave me alone.'_

**'You do not have the luxury of time. The only reason you're still alive is because that man bent rules and called in favors to keep you protected. With him gone the attacks will start up again. With him gone, you'll stand no chance of survival here.'**

_'So what do you suggest I do then?'_

**'Leave. Have you not forgotten our agreement. You cannot accomplish our goals if you're being hunted every moment of your life. Without the Hokage, the person that has been pulling all of the strings will have the advantage. You **_**MUST**_** leave.'**

"I... I can't stay here." Naruto reluctantly loosened his grip on the girl and backed away from the safety of her arms.

"Wh-What? Where would you go?" Hinata studied the boy's face carefully. Behind the grief there was something else... fear.

"Hinata... When I was little... People tried to kill me because of..." Naruto's voice trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

"The Kyuubi?" Hinata whispered as Naruto nodded slowly.

"The civilians stopped eventually, but the ninja didn't... They kept trying. The only thing that stopped them was the Third." Naruto looked down at his feet as he continued explaining why he had to go.

"I... I'm coming with you." It was a simple statement of fact. She didn't offer to come with him. She didn't ask to be brought along. She simply stated that she was going.

Naruto looked at the soaking wet girl in front of him and nodded, a small glimmer of happiness that the Third had given him so long ago returning to his stormy sapphire eyes.

* * *

**A/N:**

I know, I know, I'm a bastard. I didn't want Sarutobi to die either, but well... not everyone can have a heroic death, and Sarutobi's sudden and quick passing is required. The story simply would not work if Sarutobi died heroically in battle like he does in canon. I'm sorry ;_;

On a more cheerful note, I hope you enjoyed the second scene in this chapter. I got to thinking that if Naruto wears that stupid cap to bed, what might some of the other genin wear, and well... that scene is the end result. (For the record, Sakura sleeps with a Sasuke plushie XD)

Also, I hope you guys like Genkuro since he's going to be the main source of comic relief for the story. To clarify on his size a bit, Genkuro is just a tiny bit smaller than an average fox. The reference to a house cat was there to help add to the sense that he isn't really a combat summon, but more of an aid; a Shizune to Naruto's Tsunade if you will.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It's far longer than I had intended it to be, and I still didn't get to cover everything that I had hoped too, but it was getting far too large, and this was the first logical place I had to stop the chapter. I'm sorry I left you all at a cliffhanger, and you didn't get to see any of the fallout, but it was either that or have to deal with a 10k+ chapter, which is a bit more than I like to post at any one time (It's already over 7k). With that said, you _MAY_ be seeing another chapter of Butterfly up before Warriors of Fate since I seem to be on a streak here and have hit a rather nasty wall with WoF.

Techniques:  
Henge no Jutsu – Transformation Technique  
Kinjutsu: Kitsunetsuki – Forbidden Technique: Fox Possession  
Fuujutsu: Kitsune Keiyaku no Sakusei – Sealing Technique: Fox Contract Creation  
Kawarimi no Jutsu – Replacement Technique  
Bunshin no Jutsu – Clone Technique

Other Terms:  
Yodaime – The Fourth. It's a reference to the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato.  
Hitai-ate – Forehead protector  
Nindo – Ninja way. Think of it as a philosophy to live your life by.  
Sandaime – The Third. A reference to Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage.  
Jiji – Naruto's nickname for the Third Hokage


	4. Life on the Run

**Chapter 4 – Life on the Run**

The sun was just beginning to peak out over the tops of the trees causing the thin layer of dew that clung to everything to glitter as if the ground was covered in tiny diamonds. It was just barely dawn, and Naruto was standing over the low stone marker that recognized the final resting place of the Third Hokage. His orange jumpsuit was gone, replaced by a simple black v-neck t-shirt with a dark red whirlpool on the back and a pair of straight black pants with a flame motif along the bottom of each leg done in the same dark red. Next to him a small backpack was leaning against the massive fox summoning contract.

"I... I'm sorry, Jiji. I didn't mean what I said yesterday." Naruto swallowed hard before continuing. "I don't want to, but I need to go. I know a lot more than I think you intended me to ever know... At least, not at my age, and I can't stay here and just let it happen again. This is good-bye, Jiji.

"I promise you that I will set things right. I'm sure you knew what was happening... what had happened... You just didn't get the chance to fix it. I will. I swear it to you. I will fix everything, Hokage-sama." Naruto brushed the beginnings of tears out his eyes as he bowed low to the stone. He _never_ referred to the Third by his title, having always preferred to see him as the kindly old man he was rather than the leader of a village who had been forced to make choices he did not want to make.

"I _will_ be back, and when I do, I will turn this village into the vision you always sought for it." Naruto straightened up and pulled his hitai-ate off of his forehead and retied it loosely around his neck. The next time a hitai-ate would grace his forehead would be when he returned to Konoha to fix everything that had been done under the table and in the shadows of back alleys over the past two decades.

"It's a promise of a lifetime, and I never go back on my promises."

"Naruto-kun?" The soft voice of Hinata drifted over from behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder to look at the girl. She was wearing a simple pair of dark navy pants and the same black v-neck t-shirt that she usually wore under that bulky jacket, but the jacket itself was nowhere to be found. At her side she had placed a pale gray backpack along with a small bedroll.

"Naruto-kun... I-I heard what you said... and... I-I want to help." Hinata slowly untied her hitai-ate from her forehead and retied it around her neck just like Naruto had done. "N-No one should be expected t-to do something like th-that alone."

"Are you sure about this Hinata? You don't have to ruin your life for me."

"It-It is not r-ruining my life if I am with you, N-Naruto-kun. I am sure."

"I... Thank you, Hinata-chan." Naruto nodded and then looked up at the sky. "I think it's time we got going..." Naruto hefted the summoning contract onto his shoulder and fastened it so that it lay across his back. He picked up his pack and slung it over his right shoulder as he turned towards his friend, and now traveling companion. "Let's go."

* * *

"Finally! I've wanted to check out this hot spring for months!" The man spoke excitedly from his hiding spot in the tree overlooking the bath house. His white hair swayed slightly as he pulled out a small notebook and began jotting things down in between perverted giggles.

Just as the foxy blond was about to take her towel off and hop into the water with all of her friends, a pair of children walked under his tree. Normally, he would have ignored them and just continued with his research, but their conversation had caught his interest.

"... Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, N-Naruto-kun. W-We don't know wh-where we're going, or even wh-what we should be d-doing. M-Maybe we sh-should go back..." Naruto-kun? Why did that name sound so familiar?

"Hinata-chan... You know why I can't go back to Konoha... There's nothing stopping people from lashing out at me anymore because of... well... because of what I am..." Konoha... so the two were ninja, but what are they doing out here. He certainly hadn't felt a jounin anywhere nearby, and to his knowledge there were no outstanding genin missions that would run through the area. Clearly he was not going to get anymore research done today. Things just weren't adding up, and he hated it when things didn't add up. It always meant something bad was going to happen.

After safely tucking his research back inside of his clothes, he dropped out of the tree and right between the two children. The girl reacted immediately, and predictably, by gasping in surprise and falling over backwards. The boy, however, pulled a kunai and stared him down.

"Hey! Who the hell do you think you are, just jumping out of nowhere like that?!" Jiraiya turned to take a look at the boy who had addressed him, and his eyes widened in disbelief. It was almost like staring back in time; blond hair that seemed to have a mind of its own and piercing blue eyes that stared into your very soul. This kid was the spitting image of Minato. Then it him, the way the two had been talking had made it sound like the boy wasn't very well liked in Konoha, but he had a hitai-ate, so he was definitely a ninja. The boy's name was also apparently Naruto... and he only knew one person by that name in Konoha who had the potential to be a ninja, but what was he doing all the way out here?

"Put that away before you hurt yourself, gaki."

"Why should I? You're the one who just dropped out of the sky!" Naruto looked up at the tree and then over at the building that was across from it. "Just what the hell were you doing up there anyway?"

"That's none of your business, but if you must know... I was conducting research for my books."

"Research? That's a bath house! You were peeping! Pervert!"

"Hey! I'm not a pervert. I'm the legendary Jiraiya of the sannin! I'm a super pervert!" Jiraiya shouted and struck a pose. It was obviously well rehearsed, and Naruto could not help but sigh in annoyance. Just who the hell was this nut job?

In that brief moment of distraction, Jiraiya acted, and within a blink of an eye was behind the boy, Naruto's own kunai pressed up against his neck. "Never drop your guard, gaki."

"Ano... J-Jiraiya-sama... P-Please don't hurt Naruto-kun..." Hinata's voice was barely above a whisper, but it was not quite quiet enough to go unnoticed.

"And why should I do that? This brat's the one that pulled the kunai first." Jiraiya sent the girl a hard glare and she immediately backed down. Inwardly, Jiraiya smiled. It would seem as if the kid had a girlfriend.

"Alright, look. I want some information. You answer my questions, and I'll let the gaki go. Got it?" Hinata nodded quickly in response.

"Hey! I'm right here!" Naruto shouted and struggled against the pervy old man's surprisingly strong grip.

"Quiet, kid." Jiriaya tightened his grip in response to the struggling before continuing. "First, what are two Konoha genin doing three days out from the village without a Jounin-sensei?"

"Ano... W-We..." Hinata fumbled to find words to describe exactly _why_ they had decided to leave.

"We ran away." Naruto's short, and rather cold, response saved her from coming up with another answer.

"So you're a couple of nukenin then? Do you know what happens to nukenin?" Jiraiya pressed the blade of the kunai tighter to Naruto's neck. It wasn't tight enough to draw blood, but it still got the reaction he wanted out of the girl.

"Please don't! We had nowhere else to go!" Hinata blurt out suddenly. She couldn't let Naruto get killed. She wouldn't.

"Oh and why is that? I would think that the Hyuuga heiress would have every reason in the world to stay in Konoha." Jiraiya sent her another piercing glance. She was hiding something, but it wasn't about herself. Whatever it was, it had to do with the brat he currently had at knife point.

"I... I..." Hinata stuttered. Should she tell this man why they had left? If he was really who he said he was, then he could potentially help, but if he was just lying about his name then it could get both of them, and possibly quite a few other people, killed.

"Stop. Just stop." Naruto sighed. "She left because of me. I'll tell you what you want to know, just leave Hinata-chan alone."

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Jiraiya let the boy go, but held onto the kunai. "Now why don't we try this again? What could possibly possess two green Konoha genin to run away from home?"

"I had nowhere else to go. Konoha isn't safe for me anymore." Jiraiya looked at the boy quizzically for a moment. Was the brat talking about the Kyuubi? How did the kid even know about that?

"I can hardly imagine a few children not being safe in one of the most powerful ninja villages in the world."

Naruto looked at the man again. His face was hard, but there was something wrong with his eyes. It was almost like the man knew he was hiding something; like he was just waiting for him to say it. There was also something there that Naruto had only seen in the eyes of the Third; regret for not doing things differently. Did the man know? If he did know, why wasn't he attacking? _'Maybe he isn't like the others...'_

"The Third is dead. It is _not_ safe there anymore. Especially not for me, but you already knew that."

Jiraiya stared at the boy incredulously. '_Did that brat just read me? He clearly saw something when he was staring at me that made him want to talk, but what?'_

"The Third Hokage is dead?" Jiraiya, of course, had already known that. He had gotten the messenger bird earlier that day, in fact. He also knew who the new Hokage was, and he wasn't sure which was worse. Clearly something was going on; everything fit together too cleanly. It was almost as if it was planned. That was why he wasn't rushing to the village. Something wasn't right, and these kids knew what it is.

"He... He was assassinated." Naruto looked up at the white-haired man in front of him. "He let his guard down... because of me. That damn Mizuki used my name to get to him!"

Jiraiya looked at the boy, and for the first time noticed the swirls of pain behind his eyes. The boy really had cared for the old man, and if he's blaming it on himself...

"Alright, that's enough. You two are coming with me. We'll talk about this more later."

The two kids looked like they were going to object, but a quick glare got them reluctantly into step behind him. For a moment, Naruto considered bolting, but then he realized that they were walking _away_ from Konoha, not towards it.

They walked in silence for almost an hour before stopping in front of an inn on the other side of town. "My room only has one bed, so one of you is going to be on the couch and the other gets the floor."

"Ano... D-Does that mean w-we're st-staying with you?"

"Yes, it does. Sorry, but I'm not letting you two out of my sight until I get my answers."

* * *

"Alright... Let's hear it. Why did you really run away?" Jiraiya asked as he stared at the two genin sitting on his couch.

"You wouldn't believe me..." Naruto sighed.

"Try me, kid. I may not look it, but I'm a master of intelligence gathering."

"I don't think peeping on women counts..."

"I'll just pretend I didn't hear that... So why did you run, Naruto?" Naruto's head snapped up when the man said his name. No one ever said his name like that anymore.

"I..." Naruto sighed. He really hoped this man already knew what he was going to say. He didn't want to have to deal with being called a monster again. "People attack me because of the Kyuubi. Without the Third, the ninja attacks would start again. I can't fight that. I won't fight that. I won't attack my own village's ninja. I just won't."

Jiraiya eyed the boy curiously. _'So he did know...'_

"So you left to avoid having to fight?"

Naruto looked at the man in front of him and took a deep breath. He'd just have to trust him. "No. I left because I can't keep my promises if I'm still there." The second the words left his mouth both Jiraiya and Hinata were staring at him.

"P-Promises... Y-You mean more th-than the one you said when we left?" Naruto nodded.

"What promises?" Jiraiya arched an eyebrow at the kid. He was _far_ too much like his father already. He could only hope his promises don't end up getting him killed.

"I... I promised the Third that I'd fix things. That'd I'd turn Konoha into the village he was trying to turn it into." Jiraiya stole a glance at Hinata as the boy spoke. She was just sitting there looking at him expectantly, so obviously this was not the one he had kept hidden.

"And you can't do that like a normal person by staying there, so you ran away?"

"You and I both know why I can't do that." Naruto sent him a glare. "And I'm not talking about the attacks." _That_ got Jiraiya's attention. The boy _does_ know something about what's going on.

"Kyuubi doesn't like the new Hokage... I don't think I do either. He just felt... wrong."

"You have no idea, gaki. Wait... What do you mean the Kyuubi doesn't like him?!"

"I can talk to him. When the new Hokage stood up during the funeral... He told me that he didn't like the way the man smelled. I think that means he doesn't trust him."

"Of course he doesn't trust him. He's the bloody Kyuubi!" Naruto ignored him. He knew the Kyuubi wasn't as bad as everyone seemed to think.

"My other promise was to the Kyuubi." At that, Jiraiya stopped cold. _'What the hell is that brat playing at?'_

"I promised to get revenge... on the people who ruined our lives. The attack twelve years ago wasn't random... Kyuubi was provoked. He was 'aimed' at Konoha."

"You did what?!" Jiraiya stared at the boy. Nobody could be that stupid, could they?

'**Boy. I'll talk to him. The frog hermit and I have unfinished business anyway.'**

'_Alright...'_

"Kyuubi wants to talk to you..." Naruto stated as he began making hand seals.

"Wait! Kid, don't do that!"

"N-Naruto-kun?"

"Kinjutsu: Kitsunetsuki!" There was a brief surge of chakra as Naruto closed his eyes. When he opened them again they were blood red and slitted.

"**It's been quite some time, hasn't it, Kayaku Jiraiya?"**

"Whatever you've done to the boy, stop it! You already took..." Jiraiya stopped short remembering Hinata was still in the room. "... so much from him. Must you take his life as well?"

"**I am not harming him. I have never harmed him. The only people to ever hurt him were wearing one of these..."** Naruto tapped the hitai-ate hanging around his neck. **"Your village brought my vengeance upon themselves."**

"Like hell we did! You're the one who came out of the mist and cut our village to the ground!"

"**Yes, I did, but I was not the one who started everything. Your village, your people wearing your symbol, came to my home. They took my mate and children and killed them in front of me. They butchered my family. It was only right that I butcher yours."**

Jiraiya looked at Naruto as if he had just been slapped. Was the entire attack their fault? No, neither the Third or Fourth would have done such a thing. "You're lying. I knew the Fourth Hokage. He would never have ordered such an action."

"**No, I'm not. I cannot show you the memories that I have, but Naruto has seen them. I cannot begin to describe the pain and rage I felt for your village, but Naruto has felt similar. I acted. I exacted the price that was demanded out of honor. Can your village say the same? Deals in the shadows, secret alliances forged in darkness, and open betrayal in broad daylight; am I really the monster?**

"**The Fourth was not the one who ordered my family killed. This new Hokage... This Danzou... He reeks of the man who has been pulling your village's strings for decades. I do not know about you, but I will not sit by and be toyed with. I am not forcing the boy to do this. He wants to exact his own revenge on the man who ruined his life... ruined his chance at having a **_**family**_**. I made him an offer, and he accepted."** Naruto pulled the massive scroll of his back and slammed it down onto the floor in between the two, causing Hinata to flinch at the sudden movement. Jiraiya flinched as well, but it was from how the Kyuubi had spat out the word family as if it was his fault that the boy was all alone.

"**I take it you've been wondering what this is?"** Jiraiya nodded dumbly. It looked like a summoning contract, but how the hell would Naruto have one of those? And if it was, what clan could it possibly belong to.

"**This was what I was willing to give in exchange for his help."** Naruto opened the contract and the second symbols began to appear on the paper, Jiraiya gasped out loud.

"That's... That's... Is that real?" Jiraiya stared at the partially open scroll as Hinata tilted her head to the side, trying to make heads or tails out of the exceedingly complex seal.

"**Yes, it is. The boy created it himself. I just supplied the knowledge and a little bit of chakra. There is something exceedingly special about him. I do not know what, or why, but the boy is important. We foxes have seen it, and I'm sure you and your toads have as well."**

"I... Yes, we've known for a little while now... I don't say this often, but I believe I've misjudged you, and for that I am sorry." Jiraiya bowed his head at Naruto slowly before returning his gaze to the blood red eyes of the boy.

"**Hah! The legendary toad sage humbled. That is indeed a rare sight. Help him, Jiraiya, if not for your sense of justice then as his father's sensei. He **_**deserves**_** a family. As much as I despise most of the people in this world, the boy has been through enough. Even I can see when life has been far too cruel to someone. If you are half the man your legends say you are, you **_**will**_** help him."**

Naruto blinked a few times and suddenly sat up and looked around. "Woah... Don't think I'll ever get used to the headache that gives me." Naruto looked down at the scroll that was open at his feet. "... The Kyuubi explained?" Jiraiya nodded and Naruto let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding in. Hinata just stared at the boy next to her in shock. Naruto can talk to the Kyuubi? Someone is acting from the shadows to ruin Konoha? And just what, exactly, is that scroll?

"N-Naruto-kun... I-Is all of th-that true?"

"All of what, Hinata-chan? Kyuubi asked me not to listen in to the conversation. I don't know what you guys talked about."

"That the attack w-was provoked... That the Hokage is b-being manipulated..." Naruto nodded. "Th-Then that's w-why you l-left?" Naruto nodded again.

"Well... That settles that then. I'm going to Konoha." Jiraiya stood and looked out the window. If he was fast he'd get there by tomorrow morning.

"What?!" Naruto shouted. "You can't take us back to Konoha!"

"Not you. Me. You two are going to stay right where you are and not leave this room, or have you forgotten that you're nukenin and that you'll likely have hunter-nin on your ass? Do _not_ leave the room until I get back. I don't care if the building is on fire. You must _not_ be seen, got it?"

The pair nodded as Jiraiya opened the window and slid out into the quickly fading light.

* * *

"Ah! I was wondering when we'd get a chance to meet again, Jiraiya-sama. Honestly, I was expecting you sooner, were you delayed?" The man sitting at the Hokage's desk spoke. His right arm was bandaged and in a sling, and Jiraiya could just make out more bandages covering the right side of his face under the traditional hat that signified the Hokage's office. He had to admit it... The boy had summed it up perfectly; Danzou as the Hokage just felt _wrong_.

"Ya. I got delayed. I found an apprentice. Well, more like two actually." Jiraiya had to restrain himself from punching the man when his eyes lit up. Danzou only cared about one thing, and that was power. The prospect of him gaining not one, but a pair of ninja trained by one of the legendary sannin was clearly a very tempting idea.

"Excellent! Who are they? I'd love to meet them. Especially if they've already caught your eye, surely they're both quite skilled."

"Before we get to that, I have a few conditions that I'd like you to agree to." Jiraiya had to suppress a laugh when the man's face immediately darkened. He could certainly tell when he was about to get played, he'd give him that. "First of all, I'd like you to grant both of them the same freedom I have in regards to the village. Both of them are loyal, but I'll be outside of the village for much of their training, and I cannot risk that coming back to bite them in the ass later, so I want you to release both of them from active service and grant them permission to move about as they please."

"Done."

"Secondly, I'd like you to keep their identities as secret as possible for as long as possible. Simply being my students will make the massive targets, and as you can imagine, I do not want to endanger them simply by taking them as my students."

"Agreed. Anything else?"

"I would also kindly ask you to not send any hunter-nin or ANBU squads after them either. I'll be training them heavily in regards to my spy network, and the last thing I need is to have to dodge your ANBU as well."

"Before I agree to that, I'm afraid you're going to have to tell me their names. You understand, of course, that you're asking for quite the favor, and even I'm not generous enough to agree to something like that blindly. For all I know you could be trying to harbor dangerous criminals." Danzou's visible eye closed in an almost-glare as he watched Jiraiya carefully.

"Of course, their names are Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyuuga Hinata. As you can imagine, having hunter-nin following us constantly would cause quite the problem." Jiraiya smiled at the man as he watched his eyes darken further. He had him trapped. There was nothing Danzou could do but agree. If he didn't then Jiraiya would simply vanish along with both of them.

"Fine, but you have to agree to a few conditions of my own." By now Danzou was full out glaring at the man in front of him. "First, only one of them can be formally declared as your successor once their training is complete." Jiraiya nodded in response. Honestly, he was expecting something like that. "Secondly, I must ask that you either only train one of them, or take on a third member and form a full team. After all, tradition must be preserved." Now that particular request seemed a little odd, but Jiraiya could still make a small amount of sense out of it. Danzou was clearly trying to increase his military gain from the situation by forcing Jiraiya to train a third.

"Finding a third teammate for them may take quite some time. How long would you permit me to find one?"

"Oh... Let's say until the chunin exams. That will give you a little over six months to find one, and of course I'll extend your previous terms onto that person as well. If you can't find one by then, I'm sure I can find someone from the village that would be more than happy to train under you." Danzou smiled back at Jiraiya for the first time during their conversation. Danzou knew full well that the man was bargaining for the jinchuriki's freedom, and that meant that he could request almost anything from Jiraiya in return, and what better than to demand another student from the legendary toad sage?

"Fine, but I need all of that in writing." Three scrolls were already sitting on the Hokage's desk by the time Jiraiya finished speaking.

"You'll find all three already signed. You just need to add their names to the top. Oh, I should probably warn you though. One of our newest hunter-nin was already dispatched two days ago to _handle_ the situation. I'm sure you can understand that it will take at least that long to get in contact with him and have him recalled."

Jiraiya scowled at the man before grabbing all three of the scrolls off the desk and literally flinging himself out of the window. He'd have to be fast to catch that hunter-nin.

* * *

"Ugh! I'm so hungry!" Naruto whined as his stomach growled. "I'm going to go run down to that ramen stand that we passed on the way here yesterday. You want anything, Hinata-chan?"

"J-Jiriaya-sama told us to n-not leave the room..."

"Ya, well, the pervert didn't look at his fridge before he said that! There's no food at all in here, and I'm starving! We'll be gone all of five minutes, Hinata-chan! I'll even get it to go!" Naruto was pouting at the poor girl now.

"O-Okay, Naruto-kun..."

Five minutes later the pair was headed back towards the room. Naruto with two full bags of take out in his arms, while Hinata had a small plastic bowl in her hands.

Unannounced to the two genin, they were being followed closely by a pair of cloaked figures.

"Remember that this is _your_ mission. I've been specifically ordered not to interfere unless absolutely necessary, and even then, I'm only to act if the mission is being jeopardized." The taller man in the dog mask whispered.

"I know. It's just the dobe and the failure. This won't even take five minutes." The shorter person in the hawk mask responded. Kakashi had to force himself not to sigh at his student's frame of mind. It was certainly going to get Sasuke killed one of these days, and in all honesty, it almost felt as if the Hokage was _trying_ to get the boy killed.

"Alright then... You know what to do, Taka." Kakashi remained out of sight as the boy silently crept closer to his pray.

* * *

"See? Absolutely nothing happened, Hinata-chan!" Naruto smiled at the girl behind him as he crossed the alley just outside of the hotel they were staying in. Out of nowhere, a black blur slammed into him, sending Naruto careening into the alley in a shower of plastic and ramen.

"Hn. Once a dobe, always a dobe..." The figure stood up and unsheathed the standard issue ANBU ninjato on his back and began walking towards the blond who was only just pulling himself out of the trash that he had landed in.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted as she skidded to a halt at the entrance to the alley, her ramen clattering to the sidewalk just as the hunter-nin was bringing his sword down on the still recovering blond. "Look out!" Naruto rolled out of the way just in time to avoid a fatal blow, but the tip of the blade still clipped his left forearm, leaving a deep gash down his arm.

"Damn it! You made me spill my dinner you bastard!" Naruto screamed as he tackled his attacker into the wall, but the boy in the hawk mask managed to get his feet in between Naruto and himself, and launched the boy back into the opposite wall.

"Hn." Sasuke smirked under his mask as he watched the blond struggle back to his feet. Did he actually get weaker?

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata screamed as she came running into the alley, already dropping into her taijutsu stance. "Naruto-kun! We need to get out of here!"

"Right!" Naruto shouted as he hopped onto the nearby roof and made a break for the edge of the village.

"Tch. Pathetic." Sasuke dodged pair of juuken strikes and jumped after the blond with Hinata right on his tail.

Once Naruto made it to the clearing, he chanced a look behind him only to narrowly avoid the tip of his attacker's sword. "Woah!"

"Cut the crap. I know you're better than this!" Sasuke shouted as he came at the blond again, sword raised.

"Wha?!" Naruto jumped backwards in order to avoid another strike before going on the offense, only to have all of his attacks deflected easily.

**'Why the hell are you still using that stance? You're fighting against nature. Let go!'**

_'Shut up! Now is _NOT_ the time fox!'_ Naruto shouted mentally as he just barely managed to dodge another sword slash that would have separated his head from his shoulders.

**'You were not born to fight like this. Just let it happen. You're going to get us killed if you keep this up!'**

_'Ugh! If it will get you to shut up, fine!'_ Naruto screamed inside of his head as he rolled to the side to avoid a pair of kunai.

"Look, I don't know who the hell you are, but we don't want to fight you!"

"Hn." The masked boy ignored his plea to stop and dove at him sword first, only to find Naruto no longer in front of him. _'How the hell did he get past my guard again?!'_

Naruto's palm slammed into the small of Sasuke's back, sending him stumbling forward and right into Hinata's range. By the time the boy realized the danger he was in, Hinata had already struck his right wrist causing him to drop his sword and forcing him to jump away from the Hyuuga.

Sasuke took a deep breath and reassessed his situation. This was taking much more effort than it should have.

"You are in range of my divination." The soft voice of Hinata pulled Sasuke from his thoughts, but it was far too late to avoid the incoming attack. "Hakke Juurokushou!"

"One palm!" Sasuke tried to twist out of the way of the first strike, but the girl was too close and it landed squarely in the center of his chest. "Two palms!" Before he could even register the first hit another pair struck the inside of his elbows. "Four palms!" Sasuke backed away from Hinata only to have both his forearms and shoulders struck next. "Eight palms!" The next eight strikes slammed into various points on his chest causing him to cough up blood. "Sixteen palms!" Suddenly the blindingly fast strikes seemed to slow down to a crawl, and Sasuke was easily able to slide between them and even land his own punch into the girls gut, sending her sailing through the air.

"You bastard!" The scream came from directly behind him, and he barely had time to turn around before the fist connected squarely with his face, shattering his mask and sending him down to the ground.

Sasuke pulled himself up onto his hands and knees and coughed up some more blood before staring at the blond idiot that had just socked him in the face. The pain from the punch and juuken strikes was severe, but it was far from crippling.

"Sasuke?!" Naruto gaped at the boy in front of him. What the hell was Sasuke doing wearing ANBU gear and attacking them?

"You bastard!" Naruto charged his former teammate in a flurry of blows. His first punch came in low, under Sasuke's raised guard, but the boy easily saw it coming and stepped away from the strike causing the blond to falter. Naruto reacted immediately by turning his stumble into a forward roll followed by a jump. The action caught Sasuke by surprise, but with the aid of his sharingan, he was easily able to predict the boy's landing spot and had a fist waiting for him.

The battle continued in much the same way for several minutes. Naruto remained unable to hit the broody boy, while Sasuke was forced almost completely on the defensive. His sharingan made avoiding the strikes trivial, but Naruto's assault was vicious and left little room to retaliate without leaving him open in such a way that it would be impossible to react against a counter strike.

"This... This must be the power of the sharingan!" Sasuke laughed to himself as he finally managed to slip inside of Naruto's guard during a lull in the boy's attack and slammed his foot into his stomach, sending him tumbling across the ground. It was all too easy.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted as she rushed Sasuke, hoping to catch him off guard. Unfortunately, she was nowhere near fast enough to beat the sharingan, and she soon found herself on the ground next to Naruto who was just returning to his feet.

"That's it! You can beat me up all you want. Hell, you can kill me if that's what you're trying to do, but you're going to leave her out of this!" Naruto growled out dangerously, a faint red aura was beginning to surround him. Sasuke idly noted the change in his target's chakra, but it didn't matter. Nothing could stand against the might of the sharingan.

"Yeah? And a dobe like you is going to stop me? No, I don't think so. I have my orders, and they're to bring you back to Konoha... dead." Sasuke smirked and began forming hand seals.

"Katon: Goukyakuu no Jutsu!" He yelled out just before inhaling and sending a massive ball of fire hurtling towards the pair, fully intending to cook them both alive.

As the technique ended, Sasuke's smile turned into a frown when he spotted a massive horse sized fox sitting next to his target, its tail wrapped protectively around the pair like a fuzzy orange-brown cocoon. Huge scorch marks on either side of the fox gave testament to the power of his technique, yet the grass just behind him was untouched.

"That was _way_ too close..." Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief as the fox vanished in a poof of smoke.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata's shaky voice caused the blond to look over his shoulder at her. "Wh-What was that?"

"I'll explain later." Naruto spoke quickly before drawing a kunai and charging the raven-haired boy with renewed anger.

Just as the two were about to connect, a swirl of leaves erupted between them and both of their wrists were caught deftly by Jiraiya. "Phew... For a second there I thought I wasn't going to make it in time."

Kakashi watched from the tree line as Sasuke's hand slowly dipped into his kunai pouch. If the boy attacked Jiraiya, he'd die for certain. _'Guess I need to step in after all...'_

A second later he was standing behind Sasuke, his hand firmly digging into Sasuke's shoulder to keep him from attacking.

"Jiraiya-sama. We were not expecting you to be here..."

"Ah, sorry about that, Inu-san, but I'm afraid that your mission orders have changed. These two are no longer nukenin. I'm sure you'll be receiving word about it within the next few days. Until then I'd appreciate it if you called off your pursuit."

"Of course, Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi bowed towards the white haired man briefly before tightening his grip on Sasuke and literally dragging him away. "Come on Taka, we need to treat those wounds of yours." As the pair reached the edge of the clearing they both vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"I thought I told you to stay inside!" Jiraiya shouted as he immediately focused his attention on the blond he still had a death grip on.

"Tell that to your refrigerator! Hinata-chan and I haven't eaten in two days. We needed food!" Jiraiya eyed the boy and looked around carefully before sniffing and catching the distinct scent of ramen practically dripping off the blond. "Well, it looks like you've had your food, so let's head back. We need to discuss some things."

Naruto looked like he was about to explode at the old pervert for assuming that he had eaten just because he had left the room, but he was saved the trouble when Hinata spoke up on his behalf.

"Ano... J-Jiraiya-sama? We never g-got to eat. We were b-bringing it back to the room when we w-were attacked. Th-The food was ruined during the fight..." As if too emphasize her point, Naruto's stomach rumbled loudly causing the girl to blush.

'_At least one of them has the decency to be embarrassed...'_ Jiraiya mused to himself. "Fine, we'll stop on the way back to the room, and its Jiraiya-sensei now."

"I... I am not sure that I un-understand?" Hinata's shy voice was barely above a whisper. Jiriaya sighed; he'd have to fix that sooner rather than later.

"You two are now officially my students, so you better get used to calling me sensei."

"Sure thing! Whatever you say, Ero-sensei!" Jiraiya stumbled ever so slightly at the name the blond had decided to use. _'Kami... He really is too much like you, Minato.'_ This was going to be one hell of a ride, of that he was sure. _'At least the kid seems to recover quickly.'_

* * *

**A/N:**

Well there you have it, the other ~6k words I wanted to include in the last chapter, but just couldn't fit in. Those of you wondering about how Naruto can switch personalities with the fox so easily as well as control his chakra, the answer is coming within the next chapter or two, but if you're impatient the short of it is that the two must be 'in sync' for it to go so smoothly. Don't expect him to be throwing around four tails of power whenever someone looks at him wrong.

Jiraiya's last name is a pure shot in the dark. Kayaku appears on the summoning contract for the toads way back in chapter 92 of the manga, and since we know both Naruto's and Minato's names, I'm assuming that that is Jiraiya's. It also fits since Jiraiya is derived from the Japanese for "young/quick thunder" and kayaku means "gunpowder"

For those of you curious about why Sasuke is in ANBU, allow me to paint a picture for you. Danzou is pandering to the "last Uchiha's" wishes. I'll be going into more detail about it in later chapters :P

Lastly, I'm in the middle of writing the first chapter to a third story. I have _no_ idea if I'll be continuing it past one chapter, but it's going to be Naruto / Temari, so if that's your kind of thing be sure to check it out.

Next on the list after that, however, is Warriors of Fate, so don't be expecting to see another Butterfly chapter for at least a month, maybe two :/

Techniques:  
Kinjutsu: Kitsunetsuki – Forbidden Technique: Fox Possession  
Hakke Juurokushou – Eight Trigrams, Sixteen Palms of the Hand  
Katon: Goukyakuu no Jutsu – Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique

Other Terms:  
Jiji – Grandfather. Naruto's nickname for the Third Hokage  
Hitai-ate – Forehead protector  
Gaki – Brat. Also happens to be Jiraiya's favorite name for Naruto.  
Sannin – Literally translates to "the three nin" or "three people" This is the name given to Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru by Hanzou during the third great ninja war.  
Ano – This is essentially Japanese for "Umm"  
Nukenin – Missing/Runaway ninja  
Taka – Hawk/Falcon. Sasuke's ANBU codename.  
Ninjato – Ninja sword. A straight edged blade used in favor of a traditional katana. All ANBU have them strapped to their backs.  
Inu – Dog. Kakashi's ANBU codename.


End file.
